diff --git a/testing/external/Makefile b/testing/external/Makefile
index cb215246c6..994d8962c0 100644
--- a/testing/external/Makefile
+++ b/testing/external/Makefile
@@ -1,18 +1,26 @@
 
 PUBLIC_REPO=git://git.bro-ids.org/bro-testing
+REPOS=`./scripts/find-git-repos `
 
 DIAG=diag.log
 
 all:
 	@rm -f $(DIAG)
-	@for repo in *.git; do (cd $$repo && make ); done
+	@for repo in $(REPOS); do (cd $$repo && make ); done
 
 brief:
 	@rm -f $(DIAG)
-	@for repo in *.git; do (cd $$repo && make brief ); done
+	@for repo in $(REPOS); do (cd $$repo && make brief ); done
 
 init:
-	git clone $(PUBLIC_REPO) bro-testing.git
+	git clone $(PUBLIC_REPO)
 
 pull:
-	@for repo in *.git; do ( cd $$repo && git pull ); done
+	@for repo in $(REPOS); do ( cd $$repo && git pull ); done
+
+push:
+	@for repo in $(REPOS); do ( cd $$repo && git push origin HEAD ); done
+
+status:
+	@for repo in $(REPOS); do ( cd $$repo && echo '>>' $$repo && git status -bs && echo ); done
+
diff --git a/testing/external/README b/testing/external/README
index 51a3177407..b277fc81c9 100644
--- a/testing/external/README
+++ b/testing/external/README
@@ -30,15 +30,15 @@ Running Tests
 -------------
 
 The easiest way to run all tests is simply typing ``make``. Doing so
-will iterate through all ``*.git`` repositories and run ``btest`` in
-each of them.
+will iterate through all git repositories found in the current
+directory and run ``btest`` in each of them.
 
 Alternatively, one can also manually run all tests inside a single
 test repository:
 
 .. console:
 
-    > cd bro-testing.git
+    > cd bro-testing
     > btest
 
 All the standard ``btest`` options can be used to run individual
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ To update a test's baseline, first run ``btest`` in update mode:
 
 .. console:
 
-    > cd bro-testing.git
+    > cd bro-testing
     > btest -U tests/test-you-want-to-update
 
 Then use ``git`` to commit the changes and push the changes upstream
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ public one. A helper script is provided to set up such a repository:
     > ./scripts/create-new-repo <repo-name> <repo-url>
 
 The first argument is the local name of the repository (it will be
-cloned into ``<repo-name>.git``); and then second is the path to the
-git repository. The repository will be initialized with a few standard
-directories as well as a skeleton test in ``<name>.git/tests``. You
+cloned into ``<repo-name>``); and then second is the path to the git
+repository. The repository will be initialized with a few standard
+directories as well as a skeleton test in ``<name>/tests``. You
 can then edit files as needed (and in particular add traces to
-``<name>.git/traces``).
+``<name>/traces``).
 
 If you already have such a private test repository that you want to
 include into the test suite, clone it directly into
-``<repo-name>.git``.
+``<repo-name>``.
 
diff --git a/testing/external/scripts/create-new-repo b/testing/external/scripts/create-new-repo
index c1256d3e5d..eedcf3f4d5 100755
--- a/testing/external/scripts/create-new-repo
+++ b/testing/external/scripts/create-new-repo
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ if [ $# != 2 ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-name=`pwd`/$1.git
+name=`pwd`/$1
 repo=$2
 
 if [ -e $repo ]; then
diff --git a/testing/external/scripts/find-git-repos b/testing/external/scripts/find-git-repos
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5efd3346d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/external/scripts/find-git-repos
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Returns a list of git repositories found in subdirs of the
+# current directory.
+
+for i in `find . -type d`; do
+    test -e $i/.git && echo $i
+done