diff --git a/t/Makefile.am b/t/Makefile.am
index 602f20c..2485e79 100644
--- a/t/Makefile.am
+++ b/t/Makefile.am
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ TESTS = $(check_PROGRAMS) $(check_SCRIPTS) $(check_ERRORS)
 
 TEST_EXTENSIONS = .hcl .err
 
-HCL_LOG_COMPILER = sh $(abs_srcdir)/run.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
+HCL_LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL) $(abs_srcdir)/run.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
 AM_HCL_LOG_FLAGS =
 
-ERR_LOG_COMPILER = sh $(abs_srcdir)/err.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
+ERR_LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL) $(abs_srcdir)/err.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
 AM_ERR_LOG_FLAGS =
diff --git a/t/Makefile.in b/t/Makefile.in
index a1e844f..f8aadb6 100644
--- a/t/Makefile.in
+++ b/t/Makefile.in
@@ -495,9 +495,9 @@ check_ERRORS = \
 
 EXTRA_DIST = $(check_SCRIPTS) $(check_ERRORS)
 TEST_EXTENSIONS = .hcl .err
-HCL_LOG_COMPILER = sh $(abs_srcdir)/run.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
+HCL_LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL) $(abs_srcdir)/run.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
 AM_HCL_LOG_FLAGS = 
-ERR_LOG_COMPILER = sh $(abs_srcdir)/err.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
+ERR_LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL) $(abs_srcdir)/err.sh ../bin/hcl --modlibdirs="@abs_top_builddir@/mod:@abs_top_builddir@/mod/.libs" --heapsize=0 -b -n
 AM_ERR_LOG_FLAGS = 
 all: all-am
 
diff --git a/t/err.sh b/t/err.sh
index 951d51c..4cfbc70 100644
--- a/t/err.sh
+++ b/t/err.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ run_partfile() {
 	## the regular expression is not escaped properly. the error information must not
 	## include specifial regex characters to avoid problems.
 	echo "$l_output" | grep -E "ERROR:.+${l_partfile}\[${l_expected_errline},[[:digit:]]+\] ${l_expected_errmsg}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
-		echo "ERROR: error not raised - $l_script($l_partno) - $l_output"
+		echo "ERROR: error not raised at line $l_expected_errline - $l_script($l_partno) - $l_output"
 		return 1
 	}
 
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ partno=0
 partlines=0
 > "$partfile"
 
-## TODO: don't use  while read line..
+## dash behaves differently for read -r.
+## while \n is read in literally by bash or other shells, dash converts it to a new-line
 while IFS= read -r line
 do
 	if [ "$line" = "---" ]
@@ -73,3 +74,4 @@ done < "$script"
 
 rm -f "$partfile"
 exit $ever_failed
+