diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index de5a0302565..4579eab43ba 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2225,17 +2225,9 @@ perf: all
 
 .PHONY: test perf
 
-t/helper/test-ctype$X: ctype.o
+t/helper/test-line-buffer$X: $(VCSSVN_LIB)
 
-t/helper/test-date$X: date.o ctype.o
-
-t/helper/test-delta$X: diff-delta.o patch-delta.o
-
-t/helper/test-line-buffer$X: vcs-svn/lib.a
-
-t/helper/test-parse-options$X: parse-options.o parse-options-cb.o
-
-t/helper/test-svn-fe$X: vcs-svn/lib.a
+t/helper/test-svn-fe$X: $(VCSSVN_LIB)
 
 .PRECIOUS: $(TEST_OBJS)
 
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 2e5afd696a2..d731d66e367 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@ then
 	# override all git executables in TEST_DIRECTORY/..
 	GIT_VALGRIND=$TEST_DIRECTORY/valgrind
 	mkdir -p "$GIT_VALGRIND"/bin
-	for file in $GIT_BUILD_DIR/git* $GIT_BUILD_DIR/test-*
+	for file in $GIT_BUILD_DIR/git* $GIT_BUILD_DIR/t/helper/test-*
 	do
 		make_valgrind_symlink $file
 	done