diff --git a/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl b/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
index 22782d3042..3d196c8d86 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ command_fails_like(
 
 sub run_check
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($suffix, $test_name) = @_;
 
 	create_files();
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
index 5bd5556038..dbd0c51037 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
@@ -173,6 +173,8 @@ EOM
 
 sub test_parse_error
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($test_name, $manifest_contents) = @_;
 
 	test_bad_manifest($test_name,
@@ -183,6 +185,8 @@ sub test_parse_error
 
 sub test_fatal_error
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($test_name, $manifest_contents) = @_;
 
 	test_bad_manifest($test_name, qr/fatal: $test_name/, $manifest_contents);
@@ -191,6 +195,8 @@ sub test_fatal_error
 
 sub test_bad_manifest
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($test_name, $regexp, $manifest_contents) = @_;
 
 	open(my $fh, '>', "$tempdir/backup_manifest") || die "open: $!";
diff --git a/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl b/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl
index c27f216d39..bdf40ec7c0 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl
+++ b/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ sub check_completion
 # (won't work if we are inside a string literal!)
 sub clear_query
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	check_completion("\\r\n", qr/postgres=# /, "\\r works");
 	return;
 }
@@ -133,6 +135,8 @@ sub clear_query
 # than clear_query because we lose evidence in the history file)
 sub clear_line
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	check_completion("\025\n", qr/postgres=# /, "control-U works");
 	return;
 }
diff --git a/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl b/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl
index 8d49847948..4b22d3ccfa 100644
--- a/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl
+++ b/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@ sub test_access
 # As above, but test for an arbitrary query result.
 sub test_query
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($node, $role, $query, $expected, $gssencmode, $test_name) = @_;
 
 	# need to connect over TCP/IP for Kerberos
diff --git a/src/test/perl/README b/src/test/perl/README
index c61c3f5e94..dc35204bb6 100644
--- a/src/test/perl/README
+++ b/src/test/perl/README
@@ -61,9 +61,17 @@ Test::More::like entails use of the qr// operator.  Avoid Perl 5.8.8 bug
 #39185 by not using the "$" regular expression metacharacter in qr// when also
 using the "/m" modifier.  Instead of "$", use "\n" or "(?=\n|\z)".
 
-Read the Test::More documentation for more on how to write tests:
+Test::Builder::Level controls how far up in the call stack a test will look
+at when reporting a failure.  This should be incremented by any subroutine
+which directly or indirectly calls test routines from Test::More, such as
+ok() or is():
+
+    local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
+Read the documentation for more on how to write tests:
 
     perldoc Test::More
+    perldoc Test::Builder
 
 For available PostgreSQL-specific test methods and some example tests read the
 perldoc for the test modules, e.g.:
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl
index 778f11b28b..0bbc1c0058 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ note "testing connection parameter \"target_session_attrs\"";
 # target_session_attrs with multiple nodes.
 sub test_target_session_attrs
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my $node1       = shift;
 	my $node2       = shift;
 	my $target_node = shift;
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl
index 2b4360a2a7..b1a413035c 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ use Time::HiRes qw(usleep);
 # count to reach $num_rows, yet not later than the recovery target.
 sub test_recovery_standby
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my $test_name       = shift;
 	my $node_name       = shift;
 	my $node_master     = shift;
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
index 05803bed4e..2902494d00 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ my $check_sql =
 # the configuration file is reloaded before the test.
 sub test_sync_state
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($self, $expected, $msg, $setting) = @_;
 
 	if (defined($setting))
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl
index 1b748ad857..4a79c5ebfd 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ my $psql_rc  = '';
 
 sub configure_and_reload
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($node, $parameter) = @_;
 	my $name = $node->name;
 
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl
index 1f2bc6f5a6..b49c32230f 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ use Test::More tests => 38;
 
 sub check_orphan_relfilenodes
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($node, $test_name) = @_;
 
 	my $db_oid = $node->safe_psql('postgres',