diff --git a/tests/ipc_sock.test b/tests/ipc_sock.test
index ac6d69be..c7bad7f0 100755
--- a/tests/ipc_sock.test
+++ b/tests/ipc_sock.test
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
 # so we can test both options without breaking other things
 # that might be running on this system
 #
-if [ "`uname -s`" = "Linux" ]
+if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Linux" ]
 then
-  if [ -f `pwd`/.libs/libstat_wrapper.so ]
+  if [ -f $(pwd)/.libs/libstat_wrapper.so ]
   then
-    export LD_PRELOAD=`pwd`/.libs/libstat_wrapper.so
+    export LD_PRELOAD=$(pwd)/.libs/libstat_wrapper.so
   else
-    export LD_PRELOAD=`pwd`/libstat_wrapper.so
+    export LD_PRELOAD=$(pwd)/libstat_wrapper.so
   fi
   ./ipc.test
 else
diff --git a/tests/start.test b/tests/start.test
index 91d1734f..7f635403 100755
--- a/tests/start.test
+++ b/tests/start.test
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 # The test programs all add "qb-test-<name>-" to the front of this.
 #
 
-NAME="$$-`date +%s`"
+NAME="$$-$(date +%s)"
 
 printf "$NAME" > ipc-test-name
 mkdir -p $SOCKETDIR