diff --git a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
index b5c03ba48..4f3d92073 100644
--- a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ test "$TEST_EXPENSIVE" = 1 && test_set_prereq EXPENSIVE
 test "$TEST_NO_DOCKER" != 1 && type docker >/dev/null 2>&1 && test_set_prereq DOCKER
 test "$TEST_NO_PLUGIN" != 1 && test "$TEST_OS" = "LINUX" && test_set_prereq PLUGIN
 
+# this may not be available, skip a few dependent tests
+type socat >/dev/null 2>&1 && test_set_prereq SOCAT
+
+
 # Set a prereq as error messages are often different on Windows/Cygwin
 expr "$TEST_OS" : "CYGWIN_NT" >/dev/null || test_set_prereq STD_ERR_MSG
 
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0060-daemon.sh b/test/sharness/t0060-daemon.sh
index 67108f7cd..c51d7e6bb 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0060-daemon.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0060-daemon.sh
@@ -124,13 +124,8 @@ test_expect_success "ipfs help output looks good" '
   test_fsh cat help.txt
 '
 
-# netcat (nc) is needed for the following test
-test_expect_success "socat is available" '
-  type socat >/dev/null
-'
-
 # check transport is encrypted
-test_expect_success "transport should be encrypted" '
+test_expect_success SOCAT "transport should be encrypted ( needs socat )" '
   socat - tcp:localhost:$SWARM_PORT,connect-timeout=1 > swarmnc < ../t0060-data/mss-ls &&
   grep -q "/secio" swarmnc &&
   test_must_fail grep -q "/plaintext/1.0.0" swarmnc ||
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0061-daemon-opts.sh b/test/sharness/t0061-daemon-opts.sh
index 227d4fa30..7d5cf7fe7 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0061-daemon-opts.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0061-daemon-opts.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ gwyaddr=$GWAY_ADDR
 apiaddr=$API_ADDR
 
 # Odd. this fails here, but the inverse works on t0060-daemon.
-test_expect_success 'transport should be unencrypted' '
+test_expect_success SOCAT 'transport should be unencrypted ( needs socat )' '
   socat - tcp:localhost:$SWARM_PORT,connect-timeout=1 > swarmnc < ../t0060-data/mss-ls &&
   grep -q -v "/secio" swarmnc &&
   grep -q "/plaintext" swarmnc ||
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0184-http-proxy-over-p2p.sh b/test/sharness/t0184-http-proxy-over-p2p.sh
index d647273f0..9beda4fbc 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0184-http-proxy-over-p2p.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0184-http-proxy-over-p2p.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 test_description="Test http proxy over p2p"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
+
+if ! test_have_prereq SOCAT; then
+  skip_all="skipping '$test_description': socat is not available"
+  test_done
+fi
+
 WEB_SERVE_PORT=5099
 IPFS_GATEWAY_PORT=5199
 SENDER_GATEWAY="http://127.0.0.1:$IPFS_GATEWAY_PORT"
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0235-cli-request.sh b/test/sharness/t0235-cli-request.sh
index 24bccd4d5..3d50a2e62 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0235-cli-request.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0235-cli-request.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ test_description="test http requests made by cli"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
+if ! test_have_prereq SOCAT; then
+  skip_all="skipping '$test_description': socat is not available"
+  test_done
+fi
+
+
 test_init_ipfs
 
 test_expect_success "start nc" '
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0236-cli-api-dns-resolve.sh b/test/sharness/t0236-cli-api-dns-resolve.sh
index 1beefed09..eddbc93da 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0236-cli-api-dns-resolve.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0236-cli-api-dns-resolve.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ test_description="test dns resolution of api endpoint by cli"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
+if ! test_have_prereq SOCAT; then
+  skip_all="skipping '$test_description': socat is not available"
+  test_done
+fi
+
 test_init_ipfs
 
 test_expect_success "start nc" '
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh b/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
index 767769202..d5b2fda3b 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ if ! test_have_prereq DOCKER; then
   test_done
 fi
 
+if ! test_have_prereq SOCAT; then
+  skip_all="skipping '$test_description': socat is not available"
+  test_done
+fi
+
 TEST_TRASH_DIR=$(pwd)
 TEST_SCRIPTS_DIR=$(dirname "$TEST_TRASH_DIR")
 TEST_TESTS_DIR=$(dirname "$TEST_SCRIPTS_DIR")
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0600-issues-and-regressions-online.sh b/test/sharness/t0600-issues-and-regressions-online.sh
index 1abf87170..8496a0f03 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0600-issues-and-regressions-online.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0600-issues-and-regressions-online.sh
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ test_expect_success "pin add api looks right - #3753" '
   test_cmp pinrm_out pinrm_exp
 '
 
-test_expect_success "no daemon crash on improper file argument - #4003" '
+test_expect_success SOCAT "no daemon crash on improper file argument - #4003 ( test needs socat )" '
   FNC=$(echo $API_ADDR | awk -F: '\''{ printf "%s:%s", $1, $2 }'\'') &&
   printf "POST /api/v0/add?pin=true HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: $API_ADDR\r\nContent-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=Pyw9xQLtiLPE6XcI\r\nContent-Length: 22\r\n\r\n\r\n--Pyw9xQLtiLPE6XcI\r\n" | socat STDIO tcp-connect:$FNC | grep -m1 "500 Internal Server Error"
 '