diff --git a/src/test/tpkg/100-compile.tpkg/100-compile.pre b/src/test/tpkg/100-compile.tpkg/100-compile.pre
index e0840f65..1c71f4c7 100644
--- a/src/test/tpkg/100-compile.tpkg/100-compile.pre
+++ b/src/test/tpkg/100-compile.tpkg/100-compile.pre
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 # #-- 100-compile.pre--#
 # source the master var file when it's there
-[ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ] && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+if [ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ]
+then
+	source ../.tpkg.var.master
+else
+	(
+		cd ..
+		[ -f  "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh" ] \
+		    && sh "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh" 
+	) && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+fi
 # use .tpkg.var.test for in test variable passing
 [ -f .tpkg.var.test ] && source .tpkg.var.test
 
diff --git a/src/test/tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.pre b/src/test/tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.pre
index 77d59847..e95a7446 100644
--- a/src/test/tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.pre
+++ b/src/test/tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.tpkg/200-stub-only-compile.pre
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 # #-- 200-stub-only-compile.pre--#
 # source the master var file when it's there
-[ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ] && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+if [ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ]
+then
+	source ../.tpkg.var.master
+else
+	(
+		cd ..
+		[ -f  "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh" ] \
+		    && sh "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh"
+	) && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+fi
 # use .tpkg.var.test for in test variable passing
 [ -f .tpkg.var.test ] && source .tpkg.var.test
 
diff --git a/src/test/tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.pre b/src/test/tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.pre
index 85bbe341..87dfe2c6 100644
--- a/src/test/tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.pre
+++ b/src/test/tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.tpkg/300-event-loops-compile.pre
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 # #-- 300-event-loops-compile.pre--#
 # source the master var file when it's there
-[ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ] && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+if [ -f ../.tpkg.var.master ]
+then
+	source ../.tpkg.var.master
+else
+	(
+		cd ..
+		[ -f  "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh" ] \
+		    && sh "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/setup-env.sh" 
+	) && source ../.tpkg.var.master
+fi
 # use .tpkg.var.test for in test variable passing
 [ -f .tpkg.var.test ] && source .tpkg.var.test
 
diff --git a/src/test/tpkg/setup-env.sh b/src/test/tpkg/setup-env.sh
index 931aa5f3..8a23fc71 100755
--- a/src/test/tpkg/setup-env.sh
+++ b/src/test/tpkg/setup-env.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ export BUILDDIR=`pwd`
 export BUILDROOT=`(cd "${BUILDDIR}/../../.."; pwd)`
 export LIBTOOL="${BUILDROOT}/libtool"
 
+if [ ! -f "${SRCROOT}/libtool" ]
+then
+	(cd "${SRCROOT}"; libtoolize -fic)
+fi
+if [ ! -f "${SRCROOT}/configure" ]
+then
+	(cd "${SRCROOT}"; autoreconf -fi)
+fi
 if [ -f .tpkg.var.master ]
 then
 	cat .tpkg.var.master \
diff --git a/src/test/tpkg/tpkg b/src/test/tpkg/tpkg
index ab825b53..7bab54a1 100755
--- a/src/test/tpkg/tpkg
+++ b/src/test/tpkg/tpkg
@@ -494,8 +494,8 @@ if [ -z "${archive}" ]; then
 fi
 
 testname=`basename "${archive}" .tpkg`
-testpath=`dirname "${archive}"`
-test_pkg="${testpath}/${testname}.tpkg"
+export TPKG_SRCDIR=`dirname "${archive}"`
+test_pkg="${TPKG_SRCDIR}/${testname}.tpkg"
 dsc_file=$testname.dsc                  
 if  [ -z $testname ]; then
         err "[fatal] The test package should have a .tpkg extension. Abort."
@@ -785,8 +785,8 @@ done
 # if we depend on another test to that one first and then return
 for deptest in ${dsc_depends}; do
 	cd ..  # go up one dir
-        out "[log] executing dependency test: ${testpath}/${deptest}"
-        ${SHELL} $0 "-b ${TPKG_BASE}" exe "${testpath}/${deptest}"
+        out "[log] executing dependency test: ${TPKG_SRCDIR}/${deptest}"
+        ${SHELL} $0 "-b ${TPKG_BASE}" exe "${TPKG_SRCDIR}/${deptest}"
         test_result=$?
         cd - > /dev/null  # back where we belong
         if [ $test_result -ne 0 ]; then