diff --git a/contrib/amcheck/t/001_verify_heapam.pl b/contrib/amcheck/t/001_verify_heapam.pl
index ba40f64b58..8e02a8db2a 100644
--- a/contrib/amcheck/t/001_verify_heapam.pl
+++ b/contrib/amcheck/t/001_verify_heapam.pl
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ sub corrupt_first_page
 
 sub detects_heap_corruption
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($function, $testname) = @_;
 
 	detects_corruption(
@@ -224,6 +226,8 @@ sub detects_heap_corruption
 
 sub detects_corruption
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($function, $testname, @re) = @_;
 
 	my $result = $node->safe_psql('postgres', qq(SELECT * FROM $function));
@@ -232,6 +236,8 @@ sub detects_corruption
 
 sub detects_no_corruption
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($function, $testname) = @_;
 
 	my $result = $node->safe_psql('postgres', qq(SELECT * FROM $function));
@@ -247,6 +253,8 @@ sub detects_no_corruption
 # and should be unique.
 sub check_all_options_uncorrupted
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($relname, $prefix) = @_;
 
 	for my $stop (qw(true false))
diff --git a/contrib/test_decoding/t/001_repl_stats.pl b/contrib/test_decoding/t/001_repl_stats.pl
index fdef6cb1ff..e8644e1cbc 100644
--- a/contrib/test_decoding/t/001_repl_stats.pl
+++ b/contrib/test_decoding/t/001_repl_stats.pl
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ $node->start;
 # Check that replication slot stats are expected.
 sub test_slot_stats
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($node, $expected, $msg) = @_;
 
 	my $result = $node->safe_psql(
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl b/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
index 8134c2a62e..8d689b9601 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_archivecleanup/t/010_pg_archivecleanup.pl
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ 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_ctl/t/004_logrotate.pl b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/004_logrotate.pl
index aa0d64a4f7..13e91f3bc9 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/004_logrotate.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/004_logrotate.pl
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ sub fetch_file_name
 # Check for a pattern in the logs associated to one format.
 sub check_log_pattern
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my $format   = shift;
 	my $logfiles = shift;
 	my $pattern  = shift;
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
index 4f5b8f5a49..1420cfb352 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ EOM
 
 sub test_parse_error
 {
+	local $Test::Builder::Level = $Test::Builder::Level + 1;
+
 	my ($test_name, $manifest_contents) = @_;
 
 	test_bad_manifest($test_name,
@@ -186,6 +188,8 @@ 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);
@@ -194,6 +198,8 @@ 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 8695d22545..dbca56afad 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl
+++ b/src/bin/psql/t/010_tab_completion.pl
@@ -127,6 +127,8 @@ 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;
 }
@@ -136,6 +138,8 @@ 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 c484237d07..968be3952f 100644
--- a/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl
+++ b/src/test/kerberos/t/001_auth.pl
@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ 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 67a050b9d4..b2a5541557 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 ac581c1c07..9916a36012 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ note "testing connection parameter \"target_session_attrs\"";
 # Expect to connect to $target_node (undef for failure) with given $status.
 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 7bd500ed95..78ef60d3b2 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/003_recovery_targets.pl
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ 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_primary    = shift;
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
index 9d00e17f9f..3b031addf7 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ 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 78d4ef5b54..66a256208c 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/009_twophase.pl
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ 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 47cbc95955..3bedeffcae 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/018_wal_optimize.pl
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ 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',