diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 14d5430..72b3030 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,22 @@
 ## ease.js Makefile.am
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2013 Mike Gerwitz
+#
+#  This file is part of GNU ease.js.
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+##
 
 # see README
 SUBDIRS = doc
@@ -16,23 +34,20 @@ path_lib   = $(top_builddir)/lib
 path_test  = $(top_builddir)/test
 path_doc   = $(top_builddir)/doc
 
-path_perf_test           = $(path_test)/perf
 path_combine_output      = $(path_build)/ease.js
 path_combine_output_full = $(path_build)/ease-full.js
 path_browser_test        = $(path_tools)/browser-test.html
 
 src_js                = @SRC_JS@
-perf_tests            = @PERF_TESTS@
 path_externs_internal = $(path_build)/externs-internal.js
 
 combine  = $(path_tools)/combine
 compiler = @CCJAR@
 MKDIR_P = @MKDIR_P@
 
-.PHONY: mkbuild combine min doc test perf
+.PHONY: mkbuild combine min doc check test test-suite perf FORCE
 
-default: all-local
-all-local: combine min
+default: combine
 
 mkbuild: $(path_build)
 
@@ -83,12 +98,11 @@ doc:
 	$(MAKE) -C "$(path_doc)"
 
 test: check
-check: default
-	$(MAKE) -C "$(path_test)"
+check: @SRC_TESTS@ test-suite
 
 # performance tests
-perf: default $(perf_tests)
-perf-%.js: default
+perf: @PERF_TESTS@
+perf-%.js: FORCE
 if HAS_NODE
 	@$(NODE) $@
 else
@@ -96,6 +110,24 @@ else
 	@exit 1
 endif
 
+# test cases (old format)
+test/%.js: FORCE
+	NODE_PATH="$(path_test):$(NODE_PATH)" $(NODE) --stack_trace_limit=20 "$@"
+test/test-%: FORCE
+	./"$@"
+
+# test suite (new format)
+test-suite:
+if HAS_NODE
+	@echo "ease.js Test Suite"
+	@echo
+	@NODE_PATH="$(path_test):$(NODE_PATH)" $(NODE) --stack_trace_limit=20 \
+		$(path_test)/runner.js @TEST_CASES@
+else
+	@echo "Node.js must be installed in order to run the test suite"
+	@exit 1
+endif
+
 # generate the familiar files that automake normally checks for
 dist-hook: AUTHORS NEWS ChangeLog
 	cp $? $(distdir)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1d7356d..41fe91f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -57,30 +57,6 @@ else
     AC_MSG_ERROR(failed!)
 fi
 
-# unit tests
-AC_MSG_CHECKING([for unit tests])
-SRC_TESTS="$( find test/ -name test-* \
-    -o -name *Test* \
-    -o -name inc-*.js \
-    | tr '\n' ' ' \
-)"
-AC_SUBST(SRC_TESTS)
-if test "$SRC_TESTS"; then
-    AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)
-else
-    AC_MSG_WARN(none found)
-fi
-
-# check for performance tests
-AC_MSG_CHECKING([for performance tests])
-PERF_TESTS=$( find test/perf -name 'perf-*.js' | tr '\n' ' ' )
-AC_SUBST(PERF_TESTS)
-if test "$PERF_TESTS"; then
-    AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)
-else
-    AC_MSG_WARN(none found)
-fi
-
 # Java is used for Closure Compiler
 AC_ARG_VAR([JAVA], [The Java executable])
 AC_ARG_VAR([CCJAR], [The Clojure Compiler jar file])
@@ -105,5 +81,23 @@ AS_IF(test "$JAVA" -a ! "$CCJAR",
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAS_CCJAR, [test "$CCJAR"])
 
+# unit tests (old test system; refactoring needed)
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([for unit tests])
+SRC_TESTS="$( find test/ -name test-* | tr '\n' ' ' )"
+AC_SUBST(SRC_TESTS)
+AS_IF([test "$SRC_TESTS"], [AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)], [AC_MSG_WARN(none found)])
+
+# test cases (new test system)
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([for test cases])
+TEST_CASES="$( find test/ -name '*Test.*' | tr '\n' ' ' )"
+AC_SUBST(TEST_CASES)
+AS_IF([test "$TEST_CASES"], [AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)], [AC_MSG_WARN(none found)])
+
+# check for performance tests
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([for performance tests])
+PERF_TESTS=$( find test/perf -name 'perf-*.js' | tr '\n' ' ' )
+AC_SUBST(PERF_TESTS)
+AS_IF([test "$PERF_TESTS"], [AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)], [AC_MSG_WARN(none found)])
+
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile doc/Makefile package.json lib/version.js])
 AC_OUTPUT
diff --git a/test/Makefile b/test/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index cbc2652..0000000
--- a/test/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-##
-# ease.js test Makefile
-#
-# Responsible for running the ease.js test suite.
-#
-#  Copyright (C) 2011, 2012 Mike Gerwitz
-#
-#  This file is part of GNU ease.js
-#
-#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-#  (at your option) any later version.
-#
-#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-#  GNU General Public License for more details.
-#
-#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-#  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-##
-
-tests := $(shell find . \
-	-name 'test-*' \
-	-a ! -name 'test-combine*.js'\
-)
-cases := $(shell find . \
-	-name '*Test.*' \
-)
-tests_combine := test-combine*.js
-
-.PHONY: FORCE test test-combine suite
-
-
-default: $(tests) suite combine
-combine: $(tests_combine)
-
-suite:
-	@echo "ease.js Test Suite"
-	@echo
-	@NODE_PATH=".:$(NODE_PATH)" node --stack_trace_limit=20 runner.js ${cases}
-%.js: FORCE
-	NODE_PATH=".:$(NODE_PATH)" node --stack_trace_limit=20 "$@"
-test-%: FORCE
-	./$@
diff --git a/test/runner.js b/test/runner.js
index 264c47d..487fbc3 100644
--- a/test/runner.js
+++ b/test/runner.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ process.argv.forEach( function( val, i )
     }
 
     // the tests will run themselves; we need only require 'em
-    require( __dirname + '/' + val );
+    require( val );
 } );
 
 // output statistics