diff --git a/hphp/test/run b/hphp/test/run
index d8220004d..9fce5ae34 100755
--- a/hphp/test/run
+++ b/hphp/test/run
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ function mode_cmd($options) {
 
 function hhvm_cmd($options, $test) {
   $cmd = implode(" ", array(
-    idx_file($_ENV, 'HHVM', bin_root().'/hphp/hhvm/hhvm'),
+    idx_file($_ENV, 'HHVM_BIN', bin_root().'/hphp/hhvm/hhvm'),
     '--config',
     find_config($test, 'config.hdf'),
     mode_cmd($options),
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ function hhvm_cmd($options, $test) {
 
 function hphp_cmd($options, $test) {
   return implode(" ", array(
-    idx_file($_ENV, 'HPHP', bin_root().'/hphp/hhvm/hphp'),
+    idx_file($_ENV, 'HPHP_BIN', bin_root().'/hphp/hhvm/hphp'),
     '--config',
     find_config($test, 'hphp_config.hdf'),
     read_file("$test.hphp_opts"),
@@ -388,6 +388,12 @@ function run_test($options, $test) {
 
   file_put_contents("$test.out", $output);
 
+  // Needed for testing non-hhvm binaries that don't actually run the code
+  // e.g. util/parser/test/parse_tester.cpp
+  if ($output == "FORCE PASS") {
+    return true;
+  }
+
   if (file_exists("$test.expect")) {
     $diff_cmds = "--text -u";
     exec("diff --text -u $test.expect $test.out > $test.diff 2>&1", $_, $status);
diff --git a/hphp/util/parser/test/parse_tester.cpp b/hphp/util/parser/test/parse_tester.cpp
index 5d59347dd..00c9017a3 100644
--- a/hphp/util/parser/test/parse_tester.cpp
+++ b/hphp/util/parser/test/parse_tester.cpp
@@ -34,42 +34,36 @@ namespace HPHP { namespace Test {
  * If a parse error occurs, it says why.
  */
 int main(int argc, char** argv) try {
-  if (argc >= 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "--verify")) {
-    HPHP::Test::g_verifyMode = true;
-    --argc, ++argv;
-  }
+  HPHP::Test::g_verifyMode = true;
 
-  if (argc != 2) {
-    std::cerr << "usage: " << argv[0] << " [--verify] filename\n";
-    std::exit(1);
-  }
-
-  std::ifstream in(argv[1]);
-  if (!in.is_open()) {
-    std::cerr << argv[0] << ": couldn't open file: "
-              << strerror(errno) << '\n';
-  }
-
-  std::cout << "1..1\n";
-
-  try {
-    using HPHP::Scanner;
-    using HPHP::Test::Parser;
-    Scanner scan(in, Scanner::AllowShortTags |
-                     Scanner::AllowHipHopSyntax);
-    Parser parser(scan, argv[1]);
-    parser.parse();
-  } catch (const std::exception& e) {
-    if (HPHP::Test::g_verifyMode) {
-      std::cout << "not ";
-    } else {
-      throw;
+  char* filename = nullptr;
+  for (int i = 1; i < argc - 1; i++) {
+    if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--file")) {
+      filename = argv[i+1];
     }
   }
-  std::cout << "ok 1\n";
+  if (filename == nullptr) {
+    std::cerr << argv[0] << ": no --file 'filename' passed" << '\n';
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  std::ifstream in(filename);
+  if (!in.is_open()) {
+    std::cerr << argv[0] << ": couldn't open file " << filename << " "
+              << strerror(errno) << '\n';
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  using HPHP::Scanner;
+  using HPHP::Test::Parser;
+  Scanner scan(in, Scanner::AllowShortTags |
+                   Scanner::AllowHipHopSyntax);
+  Parser parser(scan, argv[1]);
+  parser.parse();
+  std::cout << "FORCE PASS";
 }
 
-catch (const std::runtime_error& e) {
+catch (const std::exception& e) {
   std::cerr << argv[0] << ": " << e.what() << '\n';
   return 1;
 }
diff --git a/hphp/util/parser/test/run_verify_parse.sh b/hphp/util/parser/test/run_verify_parse.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..3ebae2cad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hphp/util/parser/test/run_verify_parse.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Run verify checking only parsing works as expected.
+#
+# Usage:
+#
+#   % fbconfig hphp/util/parser/test && fbmake dbg && \
+#      ./hphp/util/parser/test/run_verify_parse.sh
+#
+HPHP_HOME=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+: ${FBMAKE_BIN_ROOT=_bin}
+cd $HPHP_HOME
+
+VERIFY_SCRIPT=./hphp/test/run
+HHVM_BIN=$FBMAKE_BIN_ROOT/hphp/util/parser/test/parse_tester
+
+# some tests are expected not to parse
+PARSE_SKIP='dv_i0.php hh_bad_end.php hh_bad_start.php hh_numbers.php
+  strict_bad_end.php strict_bad_start.php
+  strict_numbers.php syntax-error.php xhp-malformed.php Xhp.php
+  trailing_comma_bad1.php trailing_comma_bad2.php trailing_comma_bad3.php
+  trailing_comma_bad4.php trailing_comma_bad5.php trailing_comma_bad6.php'
+PARSE_SKIP="$PARSE_SKIP $(cd hphp/test/quick && ls parse_fail_*.php)"
+
+######################################################################
+
+
+skip_list=
+for x in $PARSE_SKIP ; do
+    skip_list="$skip_list hphp/test/quick/$x"
+done
+
+qtests=$(comm -23 \
+    <(find hphp/test/quick -maxdepth 1 -name \*.php | sort) \
+    <(echo $skip_list|sed -e 's/ /\n/g'|sort))
+
+HHVM_BIN=$HHVM_BIN $VERIFY_SCRIPT $qtests