diff --git a/test/bug.before.t b/test/bug.before.t
index de3e0e50f..882b9a87e 100755
--- a/test/bug.before.t
+++ b/test/bug.before.t
@@ -40,50 +40,50 @@ class TestBefore(TestCase):
     def setUpClass(cls):
         """Executed once before any test in the class"""
         cls.t = Task()
-        cls.t(('add', 'foo', 'entry:2008-12-22', 'start:2008-12-22'))
-        cls.t(('add', 'bar', 'entry:2009-04-17', 'start:2009-04-17'))
+        cls.t('add foo entry:2008-12-22 start:2008-12-22')
+        cls.t('add bar entry:2009-04-17 start:2009-04-17')
 
     def test_correctly_recorded_start(self):
         """Verify start dates properly recorded"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("_get", "1.start"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("_get 1.start")
         self.assertEqual(out, "2008-12-22T00:00:00\n", "1.start is 2008-12-22T00:00:00")
 
-        code, out, err = self.t(("_get", "2.start"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("_get 2.start")
         self.assertEqual(out, "2009-04-17T00:00:00\n", "2.start is 2009-04-17T00:00:00")
 
     def test_before_none(self):
         """Verify start.before:2008-12-01 yields nothing"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.before:2008-12-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.before:2008-12-01 _ids")
         self.assertNotIn("1", out)
         self.assertNotIn("2", out)
 
     def test_after_none(self):
         """Verify start.after:2009-05-01 yields nothing"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.after:2009-05-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.after:2009-05-01 _ids")
         self.assertNotIn("1", out)
         self.assertNotIn("2", out)
 
     def test_before_a(self):
         """Verify start.before:2009-01-01 yields '1'"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.before:2009-01-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.before:2009-01-01 _ids")
         self.assertIn("1", out)
         self.assertNotIn("2", out)
 
     def test_before_b(self):
         """Verify start.before:2009-05-01 yields '1' and '2'"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.before:2009-05-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.before:2009-05-01 _ids")
         self.assertIn("1", out)
         self.assertIn("2", out)
 
     def test_after_a(self):
         """Verify start.after:2008-12-01 yields '1' and '2'"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.after:2008-12-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.after:2008-12-01 _ids")
         self.assertIn("1", out)
         self.assertIn("2", out)
 
     def test_after_b(self):
         """Verify start.after:2009-01-01 yields '2'"""
-        code, out, err = self.t(("start.after:2009-01-01", "_ids"))
+        code, out, err = self.t("start.after:2009-01-01 _ids")
         self.assertNotIn("1", out)
         self.assertIn("2", out)
 
diff --git a/test/date.iso.t b/test/date.iso.t
index b0dd84580..86da6ff03 100755
--- a/test/date.iso.t
+++ b/test/date.iso.t
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ class TestDateISOAndEpoch(TestCase):
 
     def test_iso(self):
         """Verify adding ISO dates works regardless of rc.dateformat"""
-        self.t(("add", "one", "due:20150703T000000Z"))
-        code, out, err = self.t(("_get", "1.due"))
+        self.t("add one due:20150703T000000Z")
+        code, out, err = self.t("_get 1.due")
 
         # Partial date, because _get returns local time, and that would make
         # the test sensitive to TZ.
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ class TestDateISOAndEpoch(TestCase):
 
     def test_epoch(self):
         """Verify adding epoch dates works regardless of rc.dateformat"""
-        self.t(("add", "one", "due:1234567890"))
-        code, out, err = self.t(("_get", "1.due"))
+        self.t("add one due:1234567890")
+        code, out, err = self.t("_get 1.due")
         self.assertIn("2009-02-13T18:31:30", out)
 
 
diff --git a/test/prepend.t b/test/prepend.t
index 548ba5d15..fa9d1789f 100755
--- a/test/prepend.t
+++ b/test/prepend.t
@@ -43,15 +43,15 @@ class TestPrepend(TestCase):
 
     def test_prepend(self):
         """verify prepend command"""
-        self.t(("add", "bar"))
-        self.t(("1", "prepend", "foo"))
-        code, out, err = self.t(("_get", "1.description"))
+        self.t("add bar")
+        self.t("1 prepend foo")
+        code, out, err = self.t("_get 1.description")
         self.assertIn("foo bar", out)
 
     def test_prepend_nothing(self):
         """verify prepend of nothing is an error"""
-        self.t(("add", "bar"))
-        code, out, err = self.t.runError(("1", "prepend"))
+        self.t("add bar")
+        code, out, err = self.t.runError("1 prepend")
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":