diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index de9ddb6..c0c0b98 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ porting:
 	functions and dependend option openssl-method can still be
 	used when configuring socat with --enable-openssl-method
 
+	Shell scripts in socat distribution are now headed with:
+	#! /usr/bin/env bash
+	to make them better portable to systems without /bin/bash
+	Thanks to Maya Rashish for sending a patch
+
 testing:
 	test.sh: Show a warning when phase-1 (insecure phase) of a security
 	test fails
diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index 51cd3c1..51d8c1b 100644
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ Q: I succeeded to configure and make socat, but ./test.sh says something
 like:
 ./test.sh: No such file or directory
 
-A: You need a bash shell, and its location must be correctly specified in the
-first line of test.sh, e.g. /usr/local/bin/bash instead of /bin/bash.
+A: You need a bash shell in your executable path (locations in $PATH)
 
 
 Q: configure disables readline / openssl / libwrap support because it does not
diff --git a/proxy.sh b/proxy.sh
index 230e298..6c24126 100755
--- a/proxy.sh
+++ b/proxy.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: proxy.sh
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
 # Published under the GNU General Public License V.2, see file COPYING
diff --git a/proxyecho.sh b/proxyecho.sh
index 05acab4..db7efd5 100755
--- a/proxyecho.sh
+++ b/proxyecho.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: proxyecho.sh
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
 # Published under the GNU General Public License V.2, see file COPYING
diff --git a/readline-test.sh b/readline-test.sh
index 7547794..26f392f 100755
--- a/readline-test.sh
+++ b/readline-test.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: readline-test.sh
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
 # Published under the GNU General Public License V.2, see file COPYING
diff --git a/readline.sh b/readline.sh
index d377716..b6f8438 100755
--- a/readline.sh
+++ b/readline.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: readline.sh
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
 # Published under the GNU General Public License V.2, see file COPYING
diff --git a/socks4a-echo.sh b/socks4a-echo.sh
index 499d1c6..7360366 100755
--- a/socks4a-echo.sh
+++ b/socks4a-echo.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: socks4a-echo.sh
 #set -vx
 
diff --git a/socks4echo.sh b/socks4echo.sh
index 129b02e..103719a 100755
--- a/socks4echo.sh
+++ b/socks4echo.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: socks4echo.sh
 
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
index e9a77d3..d304912 100755
--- a/test.sh
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 # source: test.sh
 # Copyright Gerhard Rieger and contributors (see file CHANGES)
 # Published under the GNU General Public License V.2, see file COPYING
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ for addr in proxy; do
     done
     echo $OPTS
     # prepare dummy server
-    $SOCAT tcp-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:"/bin/bash proxyecho.sh" || echo "cannot start proxyecho.sh" >&2 &
+    $SOCAT tcp-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:"/usr/bin/env bash proxyecho.sh" || echo "cannot start proxyecho.sh" >&2 &
 	pid=$!
 	sleep 1
     for o in $(filloptionvalues $OPTS|tr ',' ' '); do
@@ -1951,7 +1951,7 @@ waitip4proto () {
     while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
 	case "$UNAME" in
 	Linux) if [ "$SS" ]; then
-		   l=$($SS -n -w -l |grep '^raw .* .*[0-9*]:'$proto' [ ]*0\.0\.0\.0:\*')
+		   l=$($SS -n -w -l |grep '^\(raw\|UNCONN\) .* .*[0-9*]:'$proto' [ ]*0\.0\.0\.0:\*')
 	       else
 		   l=$(netstat -n -w -l |grep '^raw .* .*[0-9*]:'$proto' [ ]*0\.0\.0\.0:\*')
 	       fi ;;
@@ -1997,7 +1997,7 @@ waitip6proto () {
 	case "$UNAME" in
 	Linux)
 		if [ "$SS" ]; then
-		    l=$($SS -n -w -l |grep '^raw .* .*[0-9*]:'$proto' [ ]*0\.0\.0\.0:\*')
+		    l=$($SS -n -w -l |grep '^\(raw\|UNCONN\) .* \*:'$proto' [ ]*\*:\*')
 		else
 		    l=$(netstat -n -w -l |grep '^raw[6 ] .* .*:[0-9*]*:'$proto' [ ]*:::\*')
 		fi ;;
@@ -4648,7 +4648,7 @@ te="$td/test$N.stderr"
 tdiff="$td/test$N.diff"
 da="test$N $(date) $RANDOM"; da="$da$($ECHO '\r')"
 #CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT tcp4-l:$PORT,crlf SYSTEM:\"read; read; $ECHO \\\"HTTP/1.0 200 OK\n\\\"; cat\""
-CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp4-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/bin/bash proxyecho.sh\""
+CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp4-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/usr/bin/env bash proxyecho.sh\""
 CMD="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts - proxy:$LOCALHOST:127.0.0.1:1000,pf=ip4,proxyport=$PORT"
 printf "test $F_n $TEST... " $N
 eval "$CMD2 2>\"${te}2\" &"
@@ -4694,7 +4694,7 @@ te="$td/test$N.stderr"
 tdiff="$td/test$N.diff"
 da="test$N $(date) $RANDOM"; da="$da$($ECHO '\r')"
 #CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp6-l:$PORT,crlf SYSTEM:\"read; read; $ECHO \\\"HTTP/1.0 200 OK\n\\\"; cat\""
-CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp6-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/bin/bash proxyecho.sh\""
+CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp6-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/usr/bin/env bash proxyecho.sh\""
 CMD="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts - proxy:$LOCALHOST6:127.0.0.1:1000,proxyport=$PORT"
 printf "test $F_n $TEST... " $N
 eval "$CMD2 2>\"${te}2\" &"
@@ -4928,7 +4928,7 @@ te="$td/test$N.stderr"
 tdiff="$td/test$N.diff"
 da="test$N $(date) $RANDOM"; da="$da$($ECHO '\r')"
 #CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp-l:$PORT,crlf SYSTEM:\"read; read; $ECHO \\\"HTTP/1.0 200 OK\n\\\"; cat\""
-CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp4-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/bin/bash proxyecho.sh -w 2\""
+CMD2="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts tcp4-l:$PORT,reuseaddr,crlf exec:\"/usr/bin/env bash proxyecho.sh -w 2\""
 CMD="$TRACE $SOCAT $opts - proxy:$LOCALHOST:127.0.0.1:1000,pf=ip4,proxyport=$PORT"
 printf "test $F_n $TEST... " $N
 eval "$CMD2 2>\"${te}1\" &"
@@ -6436,10 +6436,10 @@ tp="$td/test$N.pid"
 $PRINTF "test $F_n $TEST... " $N
 (sleep 1; kill -"$SIG" "$(cat "$tpp")") &
 # a simple "system:echo $PPID..." does not work on NetBSD, OpenBSD
-#$TRACE $SOCAT $opts echo SYSTEM:'exec /bin/bash -c "echo \$PPID '">$tpp"'; echo \$$ '">$tp; read x\"",nofork 2>"$te"; stat=$?
+#$TRACE $SOCAT $opts echo SYSTEM:'exec /usr/bin/env bash -c "echo \$PPID '">$tpp"'; echo \$$ '">$tp; read x\"",nofork 2>"$te"; stat=$?
 tsh="$td/test$N.sh"
 cat <<EOF >"$tsh"
-#! /bin/bash
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
 echo \$PPID >"$tpp"
 echo \$\$ >"$tp"
 read x