diff --git a/lang/perl/files/perl-run_tests.sh b/lang/perl/files/perl-run_tests.sh
index 288191b43..bf83c0a3d 100755
--- a/lang/perl/files/perl-run_tests.sh
+++ b/lang/perl/files/perl-run_tests.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,52 @@ PERL_TESTSDIR="/usr/share/perl/perl-tests"
 PERL_LIBDIR="/usr/lib/perl5/%%PERL_VERSION%%/"
 PERL_DISABLEDTESTS="%%PERL_DISABLEDTESTS%%"
 
+no_run=""
+manual_run=""
+manual_run_no_base=""
+
+while [ ! -z "$1" ]; do
+	case $1 in
+		-n)
+			no_run="yes"
+			;;
+		-m)
+			manual_run="yes"
+			;;
+		-mb)
+			manual_run="yes"
+			manual_run_no_base="yes"
+			;;
+		--help)
+			echo "run_tests.sh [-n|-m|-mb|--help]"
+			echo ""
+			echo "Options:"
+			echo "	-n        Just prepare the environment. Don't actually run any tests"
+			echo "	-m        Run tests manually according to MANIFEST, instead of whatever t/TEST chooses"
+			echo "	-mb       Don't run base tests. Implies -m"
+			echo "	--help    Print this help ;)"
+			echo ""
+			exit 0
+			;;
+		*)
+			echo "Invalid argument: $1"
+			;;
+	esac
+	shift
+done
+
 if [ ! -f "$PERL_TESTSDIR/__prepared" ]; then
-	ln -s "$PERL_LIBDIR" "$PERL_TESTSDIR/lib"
+	# Many tests insist on having PERL5LIB in $PERL_TESTSDIR/lib. However,
+	# that directory may also contain tests. Some of them(FindBin.t in particular)
+	# also demand being located in a directory ending with "lib". So we can't do symlink
+	# trickery here.
+	# Our solution is to just copy PERL5LIB over.
+	if [ -d "$PERL_TESTSDIR/lib" ]; then
+		cp -a "$PERL_LIBDIR/"* "$PERL_TESTSDIR/lib/"
+	else
+		ln -s "$PERL_LIBDIR" "$PERL_TESTSDIR/lib"
+	fi
+
 	ln -s /usr/bin/perl "$PERL_TESTSDIR/perl"
 	ln -s /usr/bin/perl "$PERL_TESTSDIR/t/perl"
 	touch "$PERL_TESTSDIR/__prepared"
@@ -20,5 +64,18 @@ if [ ! -f "$PERL_TESTSDIR/__prepared" ]; then
 	mv $PERL_TESTSDIR/MANIFEST_NEW $PERL_TESTSDIR/MANIFEST
 fi
 
-cd "$PERL_TESTSDIR/t"
-./perl TEST
+if [ -z "$no_run" ]; then
+	cd "$PERL_TESTSDIR/t"
+	if [ ! -z "$manual_run" ]; then
+		for i in $(cat ../MANIFEST | sed 's/\t.*$//g' | grep '\.t$'); do
+			if [ ! -z "$manual_run_no_base" ] && [ ! -z "$(echo $i | grep '^t/')" ]; then
+				continue;
+			fi
+			echo "Running $i"
+			./TEST ../$i
+			echo ""
+		done
+	else
+		./perl TEST
+	fi
+fi