diff --git a/internal/pkg/auxents/regtest/regtester.go b/internal/pkg/auxents/regtest/regtester.go
index 191c613b4d..01482445df 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/auxents/regtest/regtester.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/auxents/regtest/regtester.go
@@ -773,6 +773,7 @@ func (regtester *RegTester) loadFile(
 	contents := string(byteContents)
 	contents = strings.ReplaceAll(contents, "${CASEDIR}", caseDir)
 	contents = strings.ReplaceAll(contents, "${PATHSEP}", string(os.PathSeparator))
+	contents = strings.ReplaceAll(contents, "${MLR}", regtester.exeName)
 	return contents, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0001/cmd b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0001/cmd
index 33003b1a7e..1ca4a174d5 100644
--- a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0001/cmd
+++ b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0001/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr cat' --odkvp join -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
+mlr --prepipe '${MLR} cat' --odkvp join -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
diff --git a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0002/cmd b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0002/cmd
index a11f061d81..bf07aa8089 100644
--- a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0002/cmd
+++ b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0002/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --odkvp join --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr cat' -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
+mlr --odkvp join --prepipe '${MLR} cat' -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
diff --git a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0003/cmd b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0003/cmd
index 613b47bcfa..4f377bf536 100644
--- a/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0003/cmd
+++ b/test/cases-not-suitable-for-ci/verb-join-prepipe/0003/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr cat' --odkvp join --prepipe cat -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
+mlr --prepipe '${MLR} cat' --odkvp join --prepipe cat -j a -f test/input/join-het.dkvp test/input/abixy-het
diff --git a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0001/cmd b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0001/cmd
index 1bb4f45327..509efb7730 100644
--- a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0001/cmd
+++ b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0001/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --csv --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr --csv cat' cat test/input/rfc-csv/simple.csv-crlf
+mlr --csv --prepipe '${MLR} --csv cat' cat test/input/rfc-csv/simple.csv-crlf
diff --git a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0002/cmd b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0002/cmd
index 779ce4254f..1d031523b2 100644
--- a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0002/cmd
+++ b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0002/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --dkvp --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr cat' cat test/input/abixy
+mlr --dkvp --prepipe '${MLR} cat' cat test/input/abixy
diff --git a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0003/cmd b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0003/cmd
index a52ab644ce..48c9d2f90c 100644
--- a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0003/cmd
+++ b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0003/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --csv --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr --csv cat' cat < test/input/rfc-csv/simple.csv-crlf
+mlr --csv --prepipe '${MLR} --csv cat' cat < test/input/rfc-csv/simple.csv-crlf
diff --git a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0004/cmd b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0004/cmd
index 646e2ffc60..5462826590 100644
--- a/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0004/cmd
+++ b/test/cases/io-compressed-input/0004/cmd
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mlr --dkvp --prepipe '.${PATHSEP}mlr cat' cat < test/input/abixy
+mlr --dkvp --prepipe '${MLR} cat' cat < test/input/abixy