diff --git a/tests/test_shells/bash.ok b/tests/test_shells/bash.ok
index 34ec242f..5fb00ea1 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/bash.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/bash.ok
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  .git  cd ..
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
   HOSTNAME  USER  ⓔ  some-virtual-environment   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV=
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bgscript.sh &
 [1] PID
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
-[1]+  Terminated              bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done'
+[1]+  Terminated              bgscript.sh
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  cd "$DIR1"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^[[32m  cd ../"$DIR2"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^H  cd ../'\[\]'
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/bb.ok b/tests/test_shells/bb.ok
index 8a439c05..350cf6e3 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/bb.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/bb.ok
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  .git  cd ..
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
   HOSTNAME  USER  ⓔ  some-virtual-environment   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV=
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bgscript.sh &
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
-[1]+  Terminated                 bash -c "echo \$\$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done"
+[1]+  Terminated                 bgscript.sh
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  cd "$DIR1"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^[[32m  cd ../"$DIR2"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^H  cd ../'\[\]'
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/bgscript.sh b/tests/test_shells/bgscript.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..71886e62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_shells/bgscript.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+echo $$ > pid
+while true ; do
+	sleep 0.1s
+done
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/dash.ok b/tests/test_shells/dash.ok
index 2a42cd64..7ab16d04 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/dash.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/dash.ok
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  .git  cd ..
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
   HOSTNAME  USER  ⓔ  some-virtual-environment   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV=
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bgscript.sh &
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
-[1] + Terminated                 bash -c "echo \$\$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done"
+[1] + Terminated                 bgscript.sh
 cd "$DIR1"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1    HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^[[32m  cd ../"$DIR2"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^H  cd ../'\[\]'
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.bash b/tests/test_shells/input.bash
index ff7ad797..3842c75f 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.bash
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.bash
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.bb b/tests/test_shells/input.bb
index 2d4fbc42..bfe0f315 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.bb
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.bb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.dash b/tests/test_shells/input.dash
index 2d4fbc42..bfe0f315 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.dash
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.dash
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.fish b/tests/test_shells/input.fish
index d256c6fa..1ffc8f11 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.fish
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.fish
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV "$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill (cat pid) ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.mksh b/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
index a2f0a7dd..52c1e59f 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh b/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
index 3b5b1eb0..a888b10f 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV "/home/foo/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 unsetenv VIRTUAL_ENV
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false # Warning: currently tcsh bindings do not support job count
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd $DIR1:q
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.zsh b/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
index 51095f5f..2f967499 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
-bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+bgscript.sh &
 false
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/mksh.ok b/tests/test_shells/mksh.ok
index 09307716..278d5442 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/mksh.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/mksh.ok
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  .git  cd ..
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
   HOSTNAME  USER  ⓔ  some-virtual-environment   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV=
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bgscript.sh &
 [1] PID
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/test.sh b/tests/test_shells/test.sh
index 4aff414e..4a741aed 100755
--- a/tests/test_shells/test.sh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/test.sh
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ ln -s "$(which cut)" tests/shell/path
 ln -s "$(which bc)" tests/shell/path
 ln -s "$(which expr)" tests/shell/path
 ln -s "$(which mktemp)" tests/shell/path
+ln -s ../../test_shells/bgscript.sh tests/shell/path
 for pexe in powerline powerline-config ; do
 	if test -e scripts/$pexe ; then
 		ln -s "$PWD/scripts/$pexe" tests/shell/path
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok b/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok
index 3582bc70..592929ce 100644
Binary files a/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok and b/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok differ
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok b/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
index daa84f40..8f1394d9 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  .git  cd ..
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
   HOSTNAME  USER  ⓔ  some-virtual-environment   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  VIRTUAL_ENV=
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bgscript.sh &
 [1] PID
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
-[1]  + terminated  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done'
+[1]  + terminated  bgscript.sh
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  cd "$DIR1"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^[[32m  cd ../"$DIR2"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^H  cd ../'\[\]'