diff --git a/build-aux/csvm2csv b/build-aux/csvm2csv
index 8a589136..c787fb23 100755
--- a/build-aux/csvm2csv
+++ b/build-aux/csvm2csv
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 # header line.
 ##
 
+set -o pipefail
+
 # account for symlinks, since historically this script lives in a different
 # directory and has been symlinked for compatibility
 declare -r mypath=$( dirname "$( readlink -f "$0" )" )
diff --git a/build-aux/test/test-csvm2csv b/build-aux/test/test-csvm2csv
index 3e9bded6..3d44e88d 100755
--- a/build-aux/test/test-csvm2csv
+++ b/build-aux/test/test-csvm2csv
@@ -258,13 +258,10 @@ header, line'
 
   ((testsum++))
 
-  local -r result=$(
-    ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< "$input" \
-      && echo '(test failure: expected failure)'
-  )
+  local result
+  ! result=$( ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< "$input" ) || return 1
 
-  grep -q '!DIRECTIVE2' <<< "$result" \
-    || return 1
+  [[ "$result" =~ !DIRECTIVE2 ]]
 }
 
 
@@ -272,13 +269,10 @@ test-fail-unknown-var-ref()
 {
   ((testsum++))
 
-  local -r result=$(
-    ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< '$undefined' \
-      && echo '(test failure: expected failure)'
-  )
+  local result
+  ! result=$( ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< '$undefined' ) || return 1
 
-  grep -q 'unknown.*\$undefined' <<< "$result" \
-    || return 1
+  [[ "$result" =~ unknown.*\$undefined ]]
 }
 
 
@@ -286,13 +280,10 @@ test-fail-non-numeric-range()
 {
   ((testsum++))
 
-  local -r result=$(
-    ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< 'A--Z' \
-      && echo '(test failure: expected failure)'
-  )
+  local result
+  ! result=$( ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< 'A--Z' ) || return 1
 
-  grep -q 'invalid range.*A--Z' <<< "$result" \
-    || return 1
+  [[ "$result" =~ invalid\ range.*A--Z ]]
 }
 
 
@@ -300,13 +291,10 @@ test-fail-invalid-var-dfn()
 {
   ((testsum++))
 
-  local -r result=$(
-    ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< ':BAD@#=var' \
-      && echo '(test failure: expected failure)'
-  )
+  local result
+  ! result=$( ../csvm2csv 2>&1 <<< ':BAD@#=var' ) || return 1
 
-  grep -q 'invalid variable definition.*:BAD@#=var' <<< "$result" \
-    || return 1
+  [[ "$result" =~ invalid\ variable\ definition.*:BAD@#=var ]]
 }