diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f0d5048..e96f874 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ ChangeLog
 
 # autotools- and configure-generated
 test/runner
+test/perf/runner
 aclocal.m4
 Makefile.in
 Makefile
@@ -17,6 +18,9 @@ Makefile
 configure
 config.*
 
+# script output
+perf.out
+
 # should be added using autoreconf -i
 INSTALL
 tools/install-sh
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 752c710..fadc540 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -112,10 +112,9 @@ test: check
 check: $(src_tests) test-suite
 
 # performance tests
-perf: @PERF_TESTS@
-perf-%.js: FORCE
+perf:
 if HAS_NODE
-	@$(NODE) $@
+	@$(path_test)/perf/runner @PERF_TESTS@
 else
 	@echo "Node.js must be installed in order to run performance tests"
 	@exit 1
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3bc5bb4..783e0a4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ 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 test/runner],
-  [chmod +x test/runner])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile doc/Makefile package.json lib/version.js])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([test/runner], [chmod +x test/runner])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([test/perf/runner], [chmod +x test/perf/runner])
+
 AC_OUTPUT
diff --git a/test/perf/common.js b/test/perf/common.js
index 324f05d..13c1d46 100644
--- a/test/perf/common.js
+++ b/test/perf/common.js
@@ -89,8 +89,6 @@ exports.report = function( count, desc )
         pers  = ( total / count ).toFixed( 10 )
     ;
 
-    console.log( total + "s (x" + count + " = " + pers + "s each)" +
-        ( ( desc ) ? ( ': ' + desc ) : '' )
-    );
+    console.log( "%s|%s|%s|%s", desc, count, pers, total );
 };
 
diff --git a/test/perf/runner.in b/test/perf/runner.in
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1fe846f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/perf/runner.in
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2014 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/>.
+#
+# If you want formatted output, see :/tools/perf2html, or run this command:
+#   $ column -ts\| perf.out
+# #
+
+rawout=perf.out
+>"$rawout"
+
+for f in "$@"; do
+  @NODE@ "$f" || exit $?
+done \
+  | tee -a "$rawout" \
+  | awk -F\| '
+    # format for display as the tests are running
+    { printf "%s (x%s = %ss each): %s\n", $4, $2, $3, $1 }
+  '
+
+echo "Raw data written to $rawout" >&2