diff --git a/test/common.js b/test/common.js
index 03d4cbccc9..bce2f45315 100644
--- a/test/common.js
+++ b/test/common.js
@@ -9,4 +9,17 @@ exports.assert = require('assert');
 
 var sys = require("sys");
 for (var i in sys) exports[i] = sys[i];
-for (var i in exports) global[i] = exports[i];
+//for (var i in exports) global[i] = exports[i];
+
+function protoCtrChain (o) {
+  var result = [];
+  for (; o; o = o.__proto__) { result.push(o.constructor); }
+  return result.join();
+}
+
+exports.indirectInstanceOf = function (obj, cls) {
+  if (obj instanceof cls) { return true; }
+  var clsChain = protoCtrChain(cls.prototype);
+  var objChain = protoCtrChain(obj);
+  return objChain.slice(-clsChain.length) === clsChain;
+};
diff --git a/test/disabled/test-http-big-proxy-responses.js b/test/disabled/test-http-big-proxy-responses.js
index d569b76d40..7026d56db5 100644
--- a/test/disabled/test-http-big-proxy-responses.js
+++ b/test/disabled/test-http-big-proxy-responses.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ var chargen = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
   assert.ok(len > 0);
   res.writeHead(200, {"transfer-encoding":"chunked"});
   for (var i=0; i<len; i++) {
-    if (i % 1000 == 0) print(',');
+    if (i % 1000 == 0) common.print(',');
     res.write(chunk);
   }
   res.end();
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ var proxy = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
     var count = 0;
 
     proxy_res.addListener('data', function(d) {
-      if (count++ % 1000 == 0) print('.');
+      if (count++ % 1000 == 0) common.print('.');
       res.write(d);
       sent += d.length;
       assert.ok(sent <= (len*chunk.length));
diff --git a/test/disabled/test-http-stress.js b/test/disabled/test-http-stress.js
index 6568b1bb29..42f244f616 100644
--- a/test/disabled/test-http-stress.js
+++ b/test/disabled/test-http-stress.js
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ server.addListener('listening', function () {
    http.cat('http://localhost:'+common.PORT+'/', 'utf8', function (err, content) {
      requests_complete++;
      if (err) {
-       print("-");
+       common.print("-");
      } else {
        assert.equal(body, content)
-       print(".");
+       common.print(".");
        requests_ok++;
      }
      if (requests_complete == request_count) {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/b/c.js b/test/fixtures/b/c.js
index 4b2273553e..66ab77ed7a 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/b/c.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/b/c.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ var package = require("./package");
 
 assert.equal("world", package.hello);
 
-debug("load fixtures/b/c.js");
+common.debug("load fixtures/b/c.js");
 
 var string = "C";
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/b/d.js b/test/fixtures/b/d.js
index 076d96af74..a7e808b7cd 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/b/d.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/b/d.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-debug("load fixtures/b/d.js");
+common.debug("load fixtures/b/d.js");
 
 var string = "D";
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/b/package/index.js b/test/fixtures/b/package/index.js
index 4a19b877e5..589096b699 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/b/package/index.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/b/package/index.js
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 exports.hello = "world";
-debug("load package/index.js");
+common.debug("load package/index.js");
diff --git a/test/fixtures/echo.js b/test/fixtures/echo.js
index ded07f1c6b..9274f8cf7e 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/echo.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/echo.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 common = require("../common");
 assert = common.assert
 
-print("hello world\r\n");
+common.print("hello world\r\n");
 
 var stdin = process.openStdin();
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/net-fd-passing-receiver.js b/test/fixtures/net-fd-passing-receiver.js
index bcaf9e116c..a51dc094bf 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/net-fd-passing-receiver.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/net-fd-passing-receiver.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ receiver = net.createServer(function(socket) {
 
 /* To signal the test runne we're up and listening */
 receiver.addListener("listening", function() {
-  print("ready");
+  common.print("ready");
 });
 
 receiver.listen(path);
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-net-many-clients.js b/test/pummel/test-net-many-clients.js
index 9d123e7ca9..f6e3619d39 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-net-many-clients.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-net-many-clients.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ for (var i = 0; i < bytes; i++) {
 var server = net.createServer(function (c) {
   c.addListener("connect", function () {
     total_connections++;
-    print("#");
+    common.print("#");
     c.write(body);
     c.end();
   });
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function runClient (callback) {
   client.setEncoding("utf8");
 
   client.addListener("connect", function () {
-    print("c");
+    common.print("c");
     client.recved = "";
     client.connections += 1;
   });
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ function runClient (callback) {
   });
 
   client.addListener("close", function (had_error) {
-    print(".");
+    common.print(".");
     assert.equal(false, had_error);
     assert.equal(bytes, client.recved.length);
 
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-net-pause.js b/test/pummel/test-net-pause.js
index f96b8222c8..82b48ba046 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-net-pause.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-net-pause.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ server.on('listening', function(){
   client = net.createConnection(common.PORT);
   client.setEncoding("ascii");
   client.addListener("data", function (d) {
-      print(d);
+      common.print(d);
       recv += d;
   });
 
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-net-timeout.js b/test/pummel/test-net-timeout.js
index 8bdf7b7c24..862f5ae0d6 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-net-timeout.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-net-timeout.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ var echo_server = net.createServer(function (socket) {
   socket.addListener("timeout", function () {
     console.log("server timeout");
     timeouttime = new Date;
-    p(timeouttime);
+    common.p(timeouttime);
     socket.destroy();
   });
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ client.addListener("data", function (chunk) {
     if (exchanges == 5) {
       console.log("wait for timeout - should come in " + timeout + " ms");
       starttime = new Date;
-      p(starttime);
+      common.p(starttime);
     }
   }
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-assert.js b/test/simple/test-assert.js
index 0985faafa8..ea270cbcea 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-assert.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-assert.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function makeBlock (f) {
   };
 }
 
-assert.ok(a.AssertionError instanceof Error,
+assert.ok(common.indirectInstanceOf(a.AssertionError.prototype, Error),
           "a.AssertionError instanceof Error");
 
 assert.throws(makeBlock(a.ok, false),
diff --git a/test/simple/test-buffer.js b/test/simple/test-buffer.js
index 2386d10fa4..c6e6cc5ec6 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-buffer.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-buffer.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ var copied = b.copy(c, 0, 0, 512);
 console.log("copied " + copied + " bytes from b into c");
 assert.strictEqual(512, copied);
 for (var i = 0; i < c.length; i++) {
-  print('.');
+  common.print('.');
   assert.equal(i % 256, c[i]);
 }
 console.log("");
diff --git a/test/simple/test-c-ares.js b/test/simple/test-c-ares.js
index f46ef24c96..8f93e89b8e 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-c-ares.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-c-ares.js
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ var dns = require("dns");
 // Try resolution without callback
 
 dns.getHostByName('localhost', function (error, result) {
-   p(result);
+   common.p(result);
    assert.deepEqual(['127.0.0.1'], result);
 });
 
 dns.getHostByName('127.0.0.1', function (error, result) {
-   p(result);
+   common.p(result);
    assert.deepEqual(['127.0.0.1'], result);
 });
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ dns.lookup('::1', function (error, result, addressType) {
 
 dns.lookup('ipv6.google.com', function (error, result, addressType) {
    if (error) throw error;
-   p(arguments);
+   common.p(arguments);
    //assert.equal('string', typeof result);
    assert.equal(6, addressType);
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-child-process-buffering.js b/test/simple/test-child-process-buffering.js
index bff45dc7b7..c34e434dcf 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-child-process-buffering.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-child-process-buffering.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ function pwd (callback) {
 
 
 pwd(function (result) {
-  p(result);
+  common.p(result);
   assert.equal(true, result.length > 1);
   assert.equal("\n", result[result.length-1]);
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-child-process-exec-env.js b/test/simple/test-child-process-exec-env.js
index d4cd989a31..cc8d2f9873 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-child-process-exec-env.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-child-process-exec-env.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-require('../common');
+common = require('../common');
+assert = common.assert;
 var exec = require('child_process').exec,
     sys = require('sys');
 success_count = 0;
diff --git a/test/simple/test-exec.js b/test/simple/test-exec.js
index 727fd1fae6..c37d0ddcd9 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-exec.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-exec.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ exec("ls /", function (err, stdout, stderr) {
     assert.equal(false, err.killed);
   } else {
     success_count++;
-    p(stdout);
+    common.p(stdout);
   }
 });
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ exec("ls /DOES_NOT_EXIST", function (err, stdout, stderr) {
     console.log("stderr: " + JSON.stringify(stderr));
   } else {
     success_count++;
-    p(stdout);
+    common.p(stdout);
     assert.equal(true, stdout != "");
   }
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-fs-realpath.js b/test/simple/test-fs-realpath.js
index e97e553f8a..7ff4ea5300 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-fs-realpath.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-fs-realpath.js
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ function asynctest(testBlock, args, callback, assertBlock) {
 }
 
 function bashRealpath(path, callback) {
-  exec("cd '"+path.replace("'","\\'")+"' && pwd -P",function (err, o) {
+  common.exec("cd '"+path.replace("'","\\'")+"' && pwd -P",function 
+  (err, o) {
     callback(err, o.trim());
   });
 }
diff --git a/test/simple/test-fs-stat.js b/test/simple/test-fs-stat.js
index e626a973ec..7623a95f46 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-fs-stat.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-fs-stat.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ fs.stat(".", function (err, stats) {
   if (err) {
     got_error = true;
   } else {
-    p(stats);
+    common.p(stats);
     assert.ok(stats.mtime instanceof Date);
     success_count++;
   }
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ fs.lstat(".", function (err, stats) {
   if (err) {
     got_error = true;
   } else {
-    p(stats);
+    common.p(stats);
     assert.ok(stats.mtime instanceof Date);
     success_count++;
   }
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ fs.open(".", "r", undefined, function(err, fd) {
     if (err) {
       got_error = true;
     } else {
-      p(stats);
+      common.p(stats);
       assert.ok(stats.mtime instanceof Date);
       success_count++;
       fs.close(fd);
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ fs.open(".", "r", undefined, function(err, fd) {
     got_error = true;
   }
   if (stats) {
-    p(stats);
+    common.p(stats);
     assert.ok(stats.mtime instanceof Date);
     success_count++;
   }
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ fs.stat(__filename, function (err, s) {
   if (err) {
     got_error = true;
   } else {
-    p(s);
+    common.p(s);
     success_count++;
 
     console.log("isDirectory: " + JSON.stringify( s.isDirectory() ) );
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http.js b/test/simple/test-http.js
index 96a452ef29..05e6c7e8d2 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-http.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-http.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ var server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
     assert.equal("GET", req.method);
     assert.equal("/hello", url.parse(req.url).pathname);
 
-    p(req.headers);
+    common.p(req.headers);
     assert.equal(true, "accept" in req.headers);
     assert.equal("*/*", req.headers["accept"]);
 
diff --git a/test/simple/test-module-loading.js b/test/simple/test-module-loading.js
index 9a53a2d3d7..e66a0d8412 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-module-loading.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-module-loading.js
@@ -15,25 +15,25 @@ var d4 = require("../fixtures/b/d");
 
 assert.equal(false, false, "testing the test program.");
 
-assert.equal(true, a.A instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(a.A, Function));
 assert.equal("A", a.A());
 
-assert.equal(true, a.C instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(a.C, Function));
 assert.equal("C", a.C());
 
-assert.equal(true, a.D instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(a.D, Function));
 assert.equal("D", a.D());
 
-assert.equal(true, d.D instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(d.D, Function));
 assert.equal("D", d.D());
 
-assert.equal(true, d2.D instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(d2.D, Function));
 assert.equal("D", d2.D());
 
-assert.equal(true, d3.D instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(d3.D, Function));
 assert.equal("D", d3.D());
 
-assert.equal(true, d4.D instanceof Function);
+assert.equal(true, common.indirectInstanceOf(d4.D, Function));
 assert.equal("D", d4.D());
 
 assert.ok((new a.SomeClass) instanceof c.SomeClass);
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ assert.equal(root.sayHello(), root.hello);
 common.debug("test name clashes");
 // this one exists and should import the local module
 var my_path = require("./path");
-assert.equal(true, my_path.path_func instanceof Function);
+assert.ok(common.indirectInstanceOf(my_path.path_func, Function));
 // this one does not exist and should throw
 assert.throws(function() { require("./utils")});
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ require.registerExtension('.test', function(content) {
 });
 
 assert.equal(require('../fixtures/registerExt2').custom, 'passed');
-debug("load modules by absolute id, then change require.paths, and load another module with the same absolute id.");
+common.debug("load modules by absolute id, then change require.paths, and load another module with the same absolute id.");
 // this will throw if it fails.
 var foo = require("../fixtures/require-path/p1/foo");
 process.assert(foo.bar.expect === foo.bar.actual);
diff --git a/test/simple/test-net-binary.js b/test/simple/test-net-binary.js
index 572e6f77e7..233118c5c3 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-net-binary.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-net-binary.js
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ echoServer.addListener("listening", function() {
   });
 
   c.addListener("close", function () {
-    p(recv);
+    common.p(recv);
     echoServer.close();
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-readdir.js b/test/simple/test-readdir.js
index 8d3f6fd508..e89f42a55b 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-readdir.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-readdir.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ var files = ['are'
 
 console.log('readdirSync ' + readdirDir);
 var f = fs.readdirSync(readdirDir);
-p(f);
+common.p(f);
 assert.deepEqual(files, f.sort());
 
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ fs.readdir(readdirDir, function (err, f) {
     console.log("error");
     got_error = true;
   } else {
-    p(f);
+    common.p(f);
     assert.deepEqual(files, f.sort());
   }
 });
diff --git a/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js b/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js
index 3db8183ecf..0cf7cb2650 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ function test (size, useBuffer, cb) {
     fs.unlinkSync(tmpFile);
   } catch (e) {}
 
-  print(size + ' chars to ' + tmpFile + '...');
+  common.print(size + ' chars to ' + tmpFile + '...');
 
   childProccess.exec(cmd, function(err) {
     if (err) throw err;
diff --git a/test/simple/test-string-decoder.js b/test/simple/test-string-decoder.js
index d9b689cd85..cc59b070c3 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-string-decoder.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-string-decoder.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ charLengths = [0, 0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5];
 //  0    i      j       buffer.length
 // Scan through every possible 3 segment combination
 // and make sure that the string is always parsed.
-print('scanning ');
+common.print('scanning ');
 for (var j = 2; j < buffer.length; j++) {
   for (var i = 1; i < j; i++) {
     var decoder = new StringDecoder('utf8');
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ for (var j = 2; j < buffer.length; j++) {
     sum += decoder.write(buffer.slice(i, j));
     sum += decoder.write(buffer.slice(j, buffer.length));
     assert.equal(expected, sum);
-    print(".");
+    common.print(".");
   }
 }
 console.log(" crayon!");