diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index adaf03543e..4d4439a917 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -401,14 +401,15 @@ LANG=C
 LC_ALL=C
 PAGER=cat
 TZ=UTC
-export LANG LC_ALL PAGER TZ
+COLUMNS=80
+export LANG LC_ALL PAGER TZ COLUMNS
 EDITOR=:
 
 # A call to "unset" with no arguments causes at least Solaris 10
 # /usr/xpg4/bin/sh and /bin/ksh to bail out.  So keep the unsets
 # deriving from the command substitution clustered with the other
 # ones.
-unset VISUAL EMAIL LANGUAGE COLUMNS $("$PERL_PATH" -e '
+unset VISUAL EMAIL LANGUAGE $("$PERL_PATH" -e '
 	my @env = keys %ENV;
 	my $ok = join("|", qw(
 		TRACE