diff --git a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
index e67f56d4b..145420fa6 100644
--- a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
@@ -9,17 +9,15 @@
 # use the ipfs tool to test against
 
 # add current directory to path, for ipfs tool.
-if test "$MAKE_SKIP_PATH" != "1"; then
-  BIN=$(cd .. && echo `pwd`/bin)
-  BIN2=$(cd ../.. && echo `pwd`/cmd/ipfs)
-  PATH=${BIN2}:${BIN}:${PATH}
+BIN=$(cd .. && pwd)/bin
+BIN2=$(cd ../.. && pwd)/cmd/ipfs
+PATH=${BIN2}:${BIN}:${PATH}
 
-  # assert the `ipfs` we're using is the right one.
-  if test `which ipfs` != ${BIN2}/ipfs; then
-    echo >&2 "Cannot find the tests' local ipfs tool."
-    echo >&2 "Please check test and ipfs tool installation."
-    exit 1
-  fi
+# assert the `ipfs` we're using is the right one.
+if test "$(which ipfs)" != "${BIN2}/ipfs"; then
+  echo >&2 "Cannot find the tests' local ipfs tool."
+  echo >&2 "Please check test and ipfs tool installation."
+  exit 1
 fi
 
 # set sharness verbosity. we set the env var directly as