diff --git a/.update-changes.cfg b/.update-changes.cfg
index e3d04b7422..ed23fb4565 100644
--- a/.update-changes.cfg
+++ b/.update-changes.cfg
@@ -7,15 +7,7 @@ function new_version_hook
     # test suite repos to check out on a CI system.
     version=$1
 
-    if [ -d testing/external/zeek-testing ]; then
-        echo "Updating testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing"
-        ( cd testing/external/zeek-testing && git fetch origin && git rev-parse origin/master ) > testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing
-        git add testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing
-    fi
+    ./testing/scripts/update-external-repo-pointer.sh testing/external/zeek-testing testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing
 
-    if [ -d testing/external/zeek-testing-private ]; then
-        echo "Updating testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing-private"
-        ( cd testing/external/zeek-testing-private && git fetch origin && git rev-parse origin/master ) > testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing-private
-        git add testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing-private
-    fi
+    ./testing/scripts/update-external-repo-pointer.sh testing/external/zeek-testing-private testing/external/commit-hash.zeek-testing-private
     }
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index e0be717f10..43fa7e3ad7 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 
+2.6-205 | 2019-04-05 17:06:26 -0700
+
+  * Add script to update external test repo commit pointers (Jon Siwek, Corelight)
+
 2.6-203 | 2019-04-04 16:35:52 -0700
 
   * Update DTLS error handling (Johanna Amann, Corelight)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 92df2bb961..a0c99ee2be 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.6-203
+2.6-205
diff --git a/testing/scripts/update-external-repo-pointer.sh b/testing/scripts/update-external-repo-pointer.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..e6711a0d9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/scripts/update-external-repo-pointer.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+
+if [ $# -ne 2 ]; then
+    echo "usage: $0 <external repo path> <file to store commit in>"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+repo_dir=$1
+hash_file=$2
+
+repo_base=$(basename $repo_dir)
+file_base=$(basename $hash_file)
+
+if [ ! -d "$repo_dir" ]; then
+    echo "External repo does not exist: $repo_dir"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+printf "Checking for '$repo_base' changes ..."
+
+origin_hash=$(cd $repo_dir && git fetch origin && git rev-parse origin/master)
+head_hash=$(cd $repo_dir && git rev-parse HEAD)
+file_hash=$(cat $hash_file)
+
+if [ "$file_hash" != "$head_hash" ]; then
+    printf "\n"
+    printf "\n"
+    printf "  '$repo_base' pointer has changed:\n"
+
+    line="    $file_base at $file_hash"
+    len=${#line}
+
+    printf "%${len}s\n" "$line"
+    printf "%${len}s\n" "origin/master at $origin_hash"
+    printf "%${len}s\n" "HEAD at $head_hash"
+    printf "\n"
+    printf "Update file '$file_base' to HEAD commit ? "
+
+    read -p "[Y/n] " choice
+
+    case "$choice" in
+        n|N) echo "Skipped '$repo_base'";;
+        *) echo $head_hash > $hash_file  && git add $hash_file && echo "Updated '$file_base'";;
+    esac
+else
+    echo " none"
+fi