diff --git a/t/t0008-ignores.sh b/t/t0008-ignores.sh
index 1aaa6bf5ae8..7d5a0458818 100755
--- a/t/t0008-ignores.sh
+++ b/t/t0008-ignores.sh
@@ -5,12 +5,6 @@ test_description=check-ignore
 TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-if ! test_have_prereq PERL_TEST_HELPERS
-then
-	skip_all='skipping ignores tests; Perl not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 init_vars () {
 	global_excludes="global-excludes"
 }
@@ -45,11 +39,11 @@ test_stderr () {
 }
 
 broken_c_unquote () {
-	"$PERL_PATH" -pe 's/^"//; s/\\//; s/"$//; tr/\n/\0/' "$@"
+	<"$1" sed -e 's/^"//' -e 's/\\//' -e 's/"$//' | tr '\n' '\0'
 }
 
 broken_c_unquote_verbose () {
-	"$PERL_PATH" -pe 's/	"/	/; s/\\//; s/"$//; tr/:\t\n/\0/' "$@"
+	<"$1" sed -e 's/	"/	/' -e 's/\\//' -e 's/"$//' | tr ':\t\n' '\000'
 }
 
 stderr_contains () {
diff --git a/t/t4029-diff-trailing-space.sh b/t/t4029-diff-trailing-space.sh
index a92a42990b1..db75998e35f 100755
--- a/t/t4029-diff-trailing-space.sh
+++ b/t/t4029-diff-trailing-space.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ index 5f6a263..8cb8bae 100644
 EOF
 exit 1
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS "$test_description" '
+test_expect_success "$test_description" '
 	printf "\nx\n" > f &&
 	before=$(git hash-object f) &&
 	before=$(git rev-parse --short $before) &&
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS "$test_description" '
 	git config --bool diff.suppressBlankEmpty true &&
 	git diff f > actual &&
 	test_cmp exp actual &&
-	perl -i.bak -p -e "s/^\$/ /" exp &&
+	sed "s/^\$/ /" <exp >exp.munged &&
+	mv exp.munged exp &&
 	git config --bool diff.suppressBlankEmpty false &&
 	git diff f > actual &&
 	test_cmp exp actual &&
diff --git a/t/t4200-rerere.sh b/t/t4200-rerere.sh
index 7fcca9ddad5..bacb93d014f 100755
--- a/t/t4200-rerere.sh
+++ b/t/t4200-rerere.sh
@@ -27,12 +27,6 @@ export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-if ! test_have_prereq PERL_TEST_HELPERS
-then
-	skip_all='skipping rerere tests; Perl not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	cat >a1 <<-\EOF &&
 	Some title
@@ -87,7 +81,7 @@ test_expect_success 'activate rerere, old style (conflicting merge)' '
 	test_might_fail git config --unset rerere.enabled &&
 	test_must_fail git merge first &&
 
-	sha1=$(perl -pe "s/	.*//" .git/MERGE_RR) &&
+	sha1=$(sed "s/	.*//" <.git/MERGE_RR) &&
 	rr=.git/rr-cache/$sha1 &&
 	grep "^=======\$" $rr/preimage &&
 	! test -f $rr/postimage &&
@@ -100,7 +94,7 @@ test_expect_success 'rerere.enabled works, too' '
 	git reset --hard &&
 	test_must_fail git merge first &&
 
-	sha1=$(perl -pe "s/	.*//" .git/MERGE_RR) &&
+	sha1=$(sed "s/	.*//" <.git/MERGE_RR) &&
 	rr=.git/rr-cache/$sha1 &&
 	grep ^=======$ $rr/preimage
 '
@@ -110,7 +104,7 @@ test_expect_success 'set up rr-cache' '
 	git config rerere.enabled true &&
 	git reset --hard &&
 	test_must_fail git merge first &&
-	sha1=$(perl -pe "s/	.*//" .git/MERGE_RR) &&
+	sha1=$(sed "s/	.*//" <.git/MERGE_RR) &&
 	rr=.git/rr-cache/$sha1
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5303-pack-corruption-resilience.sh b/t/t5303-pack-corruption-resilience.sh
index ac5e370e1e4..07382797bbb 100755
--- a/t/t5303-pack-corruption-resilience.sh
+++ b/t/t5303-pack-corruption-resilience.sh
@@ -99,11 +99,12 @@ test_expect_success '... and loose copy of first delta allows for partial recove
 	git cat-file blob $blob_3 > /dev/null
 '
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'create corruption in data of first object' '
+test_expect_success 'create corruption in data of first object' '
 	create_new_pack &&
 	git prune-packed &&
 	chmod +w ${pack}.pack &&
-	perl -i.bak -pe "s/ base /abcdef/" ${pack}.pack &&
+	sed "s/ base /abcdef/" <${pack}.pack >${pack}.pack.munged &&
+	mv ${pack}.pack.munged ${pack}.pack &&
 	test_must_fail git cat-file blob $blob_1 > /dev/null &&
 	test_must_fail git cat-file blob $blob_2 > /dev/null &&
 	test_must_fail git cat-file blob $blob_3 > /dev/null
@@ -156,11 +157,12 @@ test_expect_success '... and then a repack "clears" the corruption' '
 	git cat-file blob $blob_3 > /dev/null
 '
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'create corruption in data of first delta' '
+test_expect_success 'create corruption in data of first delta' '
 	create_new_pack &&
 	git prune-packed &&
 	chmod +w ${pack}.pack &&
-	perl -i.bak -pe "s/ delta1 /abcdefgh/" ${pack}.pack &&
+	sed "s/ delta1 /abcdefgh/" <${pack}.pack >${pack}.pack.munged &&
+	mv ${pack}.pack.munged ${pack}.pack &&
 	git cat-file blob $blob_1 > /dev/null &&
 	test_must_fail git cat-file blob $blob_2 > /dev/null &&
 	test_must_fail git cat-file blob $blob_3 > /dev/null
diff --git a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
index 81987296235..9033d72b8c7 100755
--- a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
+++ b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ test_bitmap_cases () {
 		)
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'pack.preferBitmapTips' '
+	test_expect_success 'pack.preferBitmapTips' '
 		git init repo &&
 		test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
 		(
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ test_bitmap_cases () {
 
 			# mark the commits which did not receive bitmaps as preferred,
 			# and generate the bitmap again
-			perl -pe "s{^}{create refs/tags/include/$. }" <before |
+			sed "s|\(.*\)|create refs/tags/include/\1 \1|" <before |
 				git update-ref --stdin &&
 			git -c pack.preferBitmapTips=refs/tags/include repack -adb &&
 
diff --git a/t/t5534-push-signed.sh b/t/t5534-push-signed.sh
index 342d0423c92..d5c0d00114e 100755
--- a/t/t5534-push-signed.sh
+++ b/t/t5534-push-signed.sh
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ test_expect_success GPGSSH 'ssh signed push sends push certificate' '
 	test_cmp expect dst/push-cert-status
 '
 
-test_expect_success GPG,PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'inconsistent push options in signed push not allowed' '
+test_expect_success GPG 'inconsistent push options in signed push not allowed' '
 	# First, invoke receive-pack with dummy input to obtain its preamble.
 	prepare_dst &&
 	git -C dst config receive.certnonceseed sekrit &&
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ test_expect_success GPG,PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'inconsistent push options in signed p
 	# Tweak the push output to make the push option outside the cert
 	# different, then replay it on a fresh dst, checking that ff is not
 	# deleted.
-	perl -pe "s/([^ ])bar/\$1baz/" push >push.tweak &&
+	sed "s/\([^ ]\)bar/\1baz/" <push >push.tweak &&
 	prepare_dst &&
 	git -C dst config receive.certnonceseed sekrit &&
 	git -C dst config receive.advertisepushoptions 1 &&
diff --git a/t/t6011-rev-list-with-bad-commit.sh b/t/t6011-rev-list-with-bad-commit.sh
index 6131c361094..12329aab388 100755
--- a/t/t6011-rev-list-with-bad-commit.sh
+++ b/t/t6011-rev-list-with-bad-commit.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,6 @@ test_description='git rev-list should notice bad commits'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-if ! test_have_prereq PERL_TEST_HELPERS
-then
-	skip_all='skipping rev-list with bad commit tests; Perl not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 # Note:
 # - compression level is set to zero to make "corruptions" easier to perform
 # - reflog is disabled to avoid extra references which would twart the test
@@ -41,11 +35,15 @@ test_expect_success 'verify number of revisions' \
    first_commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD~3)
    '
 
-test_expect_success 'corrupt second commit object' \
-   '
-   perl -i.bak -pe "s/second commit/socond commit/" .git/objects/pack/*.pack &&
-   test_must_fail git fsck --full
-   '
+test_expect_success 'corrupt second commit object' '
+	for p in .git/objects/pack/*.pack
+	do
+		sed "s/second commit/socond commit/" <"$p" >"$p.munged" &&
+		mv "$p.munged" "$p" ||
+		return 1
+	done &&
+	test_must_fail git fsck --full
+'
 
 test_expect_success 'rev-list should fail' '
 	test_must_fail env GIT_TEST_COMMIT_GRAPH=0 git -c core.commitGraph=false rev-list --all > /dev/null
diff --git a/t/t7416-submodule-dash-url.sh b/t/t7416-submodule-dash-url.sh
index 14069600a2f..00b81d349b9 100755
--- a/t/t7416-submodule-dash-url.sh
+++ b/t/t7416-submodule-dash-url.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,6 @@ test_description='check handling of disallowed .gitmodule urls'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-if ! test_have_prereq PERL_TEST_HELPERS
-then
-	skip_all='skipping submodule dash URL tests; Perl not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	git config --global protocol.file.allow always
 '
@@ -39,7 +33,8 @@ test_expect_success 'fsck accepts protected dash' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'remove ./ protection from .gitmodules url' '
-	perl -i -pe "s{\./}{}" .gitmodules &&
+	sed "s|\./||" <.gitmodules >.gitmodules.munged &&
+	mv .gitmodules.munged .gitmodules &&
 	git commit -am "drop protection"
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t7508-status.sh b/t/t7508-status.sh
index 14c41b2cb7c..cdc1d6fcc78 100755
--- a/t/t7508-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7508-status.sh
@@ -1064,9 +1064,9 @@ test_expect_success 'status -s submodule summary (clean submodule)' '
 	test_cmp expect output
 '
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'status -z implies porcelain' '
+test_expect_success 'status -z implies porcelain' '
 	git status --porcelain |
-	perl -pe "s/\012/\000/g" >expect &&
+	tr "\012" "\000" >expect &&
 	git status -z >output &&
 	test_cmp expect output
 '
diff --git a/t/t8006-blame-textconv.sh b/t/t8006-blame-textconv.sh
index 5cb16872081..810dac18f56 100755
--- a/t/t8006-blame-textconv.sh
+++ b/t/t8006-blame-textconv.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,6 @@ test_description='git blame textconv support'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-if ! test_have_prereq PERL_TEST_HELPERS
-then
-	skip_all='skipping blame textconv tests; Perl not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 find_blame() {
 	sed -e 's/^[^(]*//'
 }
@@ -17,7 +11,7 @@ find_blame() {
 cat >helper <<'EOF'
 #!/bin/sh
 grep -q '^bin: ' "$1" || { echo "E: $1 is not \"binary\" file" 1>&2; exit 1; }
-"$PERL_PATH" -p -e 's/^bin: /converted: /' "$1"
+sed 's/^bin: /converted: /' <"$1"
 EOF
 chmod +x helper
 
diff --git a/t/t9137-git-svn-dcommit-clobber-series.sh b/t/t9137-git-svn-dcommit-clobber-series.sh
index a9d38be997c..9afdb45b1cc 100755
--- a/t/t9137-git-svn-dcommit-clobber-series.sh
+++ b/t/t9137-git-svn-dcommit-clobber-series.sh
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ test_expect_success 'initialize repo' '
 	test -e file
 	'
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS '(supposedly) non-conflicting change from SVN' '
+test_expect_success '(supposedly) non-conflicting change from SVN' '
 	test x"$(sed -n -e 58p < file)" = x58 &&
 	test x"$(sed -n -e 61p < file)" = x61 &&
 	svn_cmd co "$svnrepo" tmp &&
 	(cd tmp &&
-		perl -i.bak -p -e "s/^58$/5588/" file &&
-		perl -i.bak -p -e "s/^61$/6611/" file &&
+		sed -e "s/^58$/5588/" -e "s/^61$/6611/" <file >file.munged &&
+		mv file.munged file &&
 		poke file &&
 		test x"$(sed -n -e 58p < file)" = x5588 &&
 		test x"$(sed -n -e 61p < file)" = x6611 &&
@@ -37,11 +37,13 @@ test_expect_success 'some unrelated changes to git' "
 	git commit -m bye-life life
 	"
 
-test_expect_success PERL_TEST_HELPERS 'change file but in unrelated area' "
+test_expect_success 'change file but in unrelated area' "
 	test x\"\$(sed -n -e 4p < file)\" = x4 &&
 	test x\"\$(sed -n -e 7p < file)\" = x7 &&
-	perl -i.bak -p -e 's/^4\$/4444/' file &&
-	perl -i.bak -p -e 's/^7\$/7777/' file &&
+	sed -e 's/^4\$/4444/' \
+	    -e 's/^7\$/7777/' \
+		<file >file.munged &&
+	mv file.munged file &&
 	test x\"\$(sed -n -e 4p < file)\" = x4444 &&
 	test x\"\$(sed -n -e 7p < file)\" = x7777 &&
 	git commit -m '4 => 4444, 7 => 7777' file &&
