diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index d9e0e07506..dec644f997 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -906,6 +906,14 @@ see test-lib-functions.sh for the full list and their options.
 	    'git-write-tree should be able to write an empty tree.' \
 	    'tree=$(git-write-tree)'
 
+   If <script> is `-` (a single dash), then the script to run is read
+   from stdin. This lets you more easily use single quotes within the
+   script by using a here-doc. For example:
+
+	test_expect_success 'output contains expected string' - <<\EOT
+		grep "this string has 'quotes' in it" output
+	EOT
+
    If you supply three parameters the first will be taken to be a
    prerequisite; see the test_set_prereq and test_have_prereq
    documentation below:
diff --git a/t/test-lib-functions.sh b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
index 427b375b39..803ed2df39 100644
--- a/t/test-lib-functions.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
@@ -872,6 +872,24 @@ test_verify_prereq () {
 	BUG "'$test_prereq' does not look like a prereq"
 }
 
+# assign the variable named by "$1" with the contents of "$2";
+# if "$2" is "-", then read stdin into "$1" instead
+test_body_or_stdin () {
+	if test "$2" != "-"
+	then
+		eval "$1=\$2"
+		return
+	fi
+
+	# start with a newline, to match hanging newline from open-quote style
+	eval "$1=\$LF"
+	local test_line
+	while IFS= read -r test_line
+	do
+		eval "$1=\${$1}\${test_line}\${LF}"
+	done
+}
+
 test_expect_failure () {
 	test_start_ "$@"
 	test "$#" = 3 && { test_prereq=$1; shift; } || test_prereq=
@@ -881,9 +899,11 @@ test_expect_failure () {
 	export test_prereq
 	if ! test_skip "$@"
 	then
+		local test_body
+		test_body_or_stdin test_body "$2"
 		test -n "$test_skip_test_preamble" ||
-		say >&3 "checking known breakage of $TEST_NUMBER.$test_count '$1': $2"
-		if test_run_ "$2" expecting_failure
+		say >&3 "checking known breakage of $TEST_NUMBER.$test_count '$1': $test_body"
+		if test_run_ "$test_body" expecting_failure
 		then
 			test_known_broken_ok_ "$1"
 		else
@@ -902,13 +922,15 @@ test_expect_success () {
 	export test_prereq
 	if ! test_skip "$@"
 	then
+		local test_body
+		test_body_or_stdin test_body "$2"
 		test -n "$test_skip_test_preamble" ||
-		say >&3 "expecting success of $TEST_NUMBER.$test_count '$1': $2"
-		if test_run_ "$2"
+		say >&3 "expecting success of $TEST_NUMBER.$test_count '$1': $test_body"
+		if test_run_ "$test_body"
 		then
 			test_ok_ "$1"
 		else
-			test_failure_ "$@"
+			test_failure_ "$1" "$test_body"
 		fi
 	fi
 	test_finish_