diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd9329f..0f72151 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ There is a simple test harness which can be invoked via `make test`. If you wish
 to port this software to an untested platform the tests will greatly assist in
 that process.
 > Note: if your OS uses **dash** as `/bin/sh` then the builtin echo command will not
-> be up to the task of printing the escape sequences used by the test runner. If this
-> bothers you, you can call `make` with the `SHELL` environment variable overridden
-> by calling `make SHELL=/bin/bash all test`.
+> be up to the task of printing the escape sequences used by the test runner. In
+> this case, be sure to set the `ECHO` variable to `/bin/echo` in the *config.mk*
+> file.
 
 ## Contributing
 Contributions are always welcome and can be made via pull request or `git send-email`,
diff --git a/config.mk b/config.mk
index 5906546..f89317e 100644
--- a/config.mk
+++ b/config.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ libdir      = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib
 sharedir    = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share
 mandir      = $(sharedir)/man
 docdir      = $(sharedir)/doc/haggis
+# We need an `echo` program that doesn't screw with terminal escape sequences.
+# This only matters if /bin/sh is a symlink to dash, as the echo builtin in dash
+# will screw with them and pass them as printed characters.
+ECHO        = /bin/echo
 # Comment this line if your OS ships libmd as part of libc
 # (NetBSD, OpenBSD)
 LIBS   += -lmd
diff --git a/test/Makefile b/test/Makefile
index 1b492c1..798a2ff 100644
--- a/test/Makefile
+++ b/test/Makefile
@@ -82,24 +82,24 @@ total      != echo $(tests) | wc -w | awk '{ print $$1 }'
 
 .PHONY: test
 test: $(tests) output
-	@echo -e "\n\t=== \e[0;33mRunning $(total) tests\e[0m ===\n"
+	@$(ECHO) -e "\n\t=== \e[0;33mRunning $(total) tests\e[0m ===\n"
 	@idx=1 ; success=0 ; fail=0; skip=0; for t in $(tests) ; \
 		do printf "[%02i/$(total)] %-25s" $${idx} $${t} ; \
 		idx=$$(expr $${idx} + 1) ; \
 		./$${t} ; \
 		retval=$$? ; \
 		if [ $${retval} -eq 0 ] ; \
-		then echo -e '\e[0;32mSuccess\e[0m' ; \
+		then $(ECHO) -e '\e[0;32mSuccess\e[0m' ; \
 		success=$$(expr $${success} + 1) ; \
 		elif [ $${retval} -eq 255 ] ; \
-		then echo Skipped ; \
+		then $(ECHO) Skipped ; \
 		skip=$$(expr $${skip} + 1) ; \
-		else echo -e '\e[0;31mFailure\e[0m' ; \
+		else $(ECHO) -e '\e[0;31mFailure\e[0m' ; \
 		fail=$$(expr $${fail} + 1) ; \
 		fi ; done || true ; \
-		if [ $${fail} == 0 ] ; \
-		then echo -e '\nResults: \e[0;32mOk\e[0m.' "$${success} succeeded; $${fail} failed; $${skip} skipped" ; \
-		else echo -e '\nResults: \e[0;31mFAILED\e[0m.' "$${success} succeeded; $${fail} failed; $${skip} skipped" ; \
+		if [ $${fail} -eq 0 ] ; \
+		then $(ECHO) -e '\nResults: \e[0;32mOk\e[0m.' "$${success} succeeded; $${fail} failed; $${skip} skipped" ; \
+		else $(ECHO) -e '\nResults: \e[0;31mFAILED\e[0m.' "$${success} succeeded; $${fail} failed; $${skip} skipped" ; \
 		fi
 
 output: