diff --git a/client/mysql_upgrade.c b/client/mysql_upgrade.c
index e5855aee605..b8344606448 100644
--- a/client/mysql_upgrade.c
+++ b/client/mysql_upgrade.c
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ find_file(const char *name, const char *root, uint flags, char *result, size_t l
 {
   int ret;
   va_list va;
-  FILEINFO key= { name };
+  FILEINFO key= { (char*)name, NULL };
   const char *subdir;
   char *cp;
   
@@ -395,7 +395,6 @@ find_file(const char *name, const char *root, uint flags, char *result, size_t l
   {
     MY_DIR *dir;
     FILEINFO *match;
-    uint i;
     char *cp1;
     
     cp1= strnmov(cp + 1, subdir, len - (cp - result) - 1);
diff --git a/client/mysqltest.c b/client/mysqltest.c
index aeb86575333..561bc541c74 100644
--- a/client/mysqltest.c
+++ b/client/mysqltest.c
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ enum {
   OPT_SSL_CA, OPT_SSL_CAPATH, OPT_SSL_CIPHER, OPT_PS_PROTOCOL,
   OPT_SP_PROTOCOL, OPT_CURSOR_PROTOCOL, OPT_VIEW_PROTOCOL,
   OPT_SSL_VERIFY_SERVER_CERT, OPT_MAX_CONNECT_RETRIES,
-  OPT_MARK_PROGRESS
+  OPT_MARK_PROGRESS, OPT_CHARSETS_DIR
 };
 
 static int record= 0, opt_sleep= -1;
 static char *db= 0, *pass= 0;
 const char *user= 0, *host= 0, *unix_sock= 0, *opt_basedir= "./";
-const char *opt_include= 0;
+const char *opt_include= 0, *opt_charsets_dir;
 static int port= 0;
 static int opt_max_connect_retries;
 static my_bool opt_compress= 0, silent= 0, verbose= 0;
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ static struct st_test_file* file_stack_end;
 
 
 static CHARSET_INFO *charset_info= &my_charset_latin1; /* Default charset */
-static const char *charset_name= "latin1"; /* Default character set name */
 
 static const char *embedded_server_groups[]=
 {
@@ -3093,7 +3092,11 @@ void do_connect(struct st_command *command)
   if (opt_compress || con_compress)
     mysql_options(&next_con->mysql, MYSQL_OPT_COMPRESS, NullS);
   mysql_options(&next_con->mysql, MYSQL_OPT_LOCAL_INFILE, 0);
-  mysql_options(&next_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, charset_name);
+  mysql_options(&next_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME,
+                charset_info->csname);
+  if (opt_charsets_dir)
+    mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_DIR,
+                  opt_charsets_dir);
 
 #ifdef HAVE_OPENSSL
   if (opt_use_ssl || con_ssl)
@@ -3779,6 +3782,9 @@ static struct my_option my_long_options[] =
    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
   {"basedir", 'b', "Basedir for tests.", (gptr*) &opt_basedir,
    (gptr*) &opt_basedir, 0, GET_STR, REQUIRED_ARG, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
+  {"character-sets-dir", OPT_CHARSETS_DIR,
+   "Directory where character sets are.", (gptr*) &opt_charsets_dir,
+   (gptr*) &opt_charsets_dir, 0, GET_STR, REQUIRED_ARG, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
   {"compress", 'C', "Use the compressed server/client protocol.",
    (gptr*) &opt_compress, (gptr*) &opt_compress, 0, GET_BOOL, NO_ARG, 0, 0, 0,
    0, 0, 0},
@@ -5511,7 +5517,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
   if (opt_compress)
     mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql,MYSQL_OPT_COMPRESS,NullS);
   mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql, MYSQL_OPT_LOCAL_INFILE, 0);
-  mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, charset_name);
+  mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME,
+                charset_info->csname);
+  if (opt_charsets_dir)
+    mysql_options(&cur_con->mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_DIR,
+                  opt_charsets_dir);
 
 #ifdef HAVE_OPENSSL
 
diff --git a/mysql-test/mysql-test-run.pl b/mysql-test/mysql-test-run.pl
index fe97c7fa8ad..966d14f3ce1 100755
--- a/mysql-test/mysql-test-run.pl
+++ b/mysql-test/mysql-test-run.pl
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ sub command_line_setup () {
              'tmpdir=s'                 => \$opt_tmpdir,
              'vardir=s'                 => \$opt_vardir,
              'benchdir=s'               => \$glob_mysql_bench_dir,
-             'mem'                      => \$opt_mem,
+             'mem:s'                    => \$opt_mem,
 
              # Misc
              'comment=s'                => \$opt_comment,
@@ -734,17 +734,18 @@ sub command_line_setup () {
   # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   # Check if we should speed up tests by trying to run on tmpfs
   # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  if ( $opt_mem )
+  if ( defined $opt_mem )
   {
     mtr_error("Can't use --mem and --vardir at the same time ")
       if $opt_vardir;
     mtr_error("Can't use --mem and --tmpdir at the same time ")
       if $opt_tmpdir;
 
-    # Use /dev/shm as the preferred location for vardir and
-    # thus implicitly also tmpdir. Add other locations to list
-    my @tmpfs_locations= ($opt_mem, "/dev/shm");
-    # One could maybe use "mount" to find tmpfs location(s)
+    # Search through list of locations that are known
+    # to be "fast disks" to list to find a suitable location
+    # Use --mem=<dir> as first location to look.
+    my @tmpfs_locations= ($opt_mem, "/dev/shm", "/tmp");
+
     foreach my $fs (@tmpfs_locations)
     {
       if ( -d $fs )
@@ -2996,9 +2997,9 @@ sub analyze_testcase_failure_sync_with_master($)
 
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--no-defaults");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--silent");
-  mtr_add_arg($args, "-v");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--skip-safemalloc");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--tmpdir=%s", $opt_tmpdir);
+  mtr_add_arg($args, "--character-sets-dir=%s", $path_charsetsdir);
 
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--socket=%s", $master->[0]->{'path_sock'});
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--port=%d", $master->[0]->{'port'});
@@ -4181,9 +4182,9 @@ sub run_check_testcase ($$) {
 
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--no-defaults");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--silent");
-  mtr_add_arg($args, "-v");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--skip-safemalloc");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--tmpdir=%s", $opt_tmpdir);
+  mtr_add_arg($args, "--character-sets-dir=%s", $path_charsetsdir);
 
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--socket=%s", $mysqld->{'path_sock'});
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--port=%d", $mysqld->{'port'});
@@ -4227,9 +4228,9 @@ sub run_mysqltest ($) {
 
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--no-defaults");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--silent");
-  mtr_add_arg($args, "-v");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--skip-safemalloc");
   mtr_add_arg($args, "--tmpdir=%s", $opt_tmpdir);
+  mtr_add_arg($args, "--character-sets-dir=%s", $path_charsetsdir);
 
   if ($tinfo->{'component_id'} eq 'im')
   {
@@ -4314,13 +4315,11 @@ sub run_mysqltest ($) {
   if ( $opt_ssl )
   {
     # Turn on SSL for _all_ test cases if option --ssl was used
-    mtr_add_arg($args, "--ssl",
-		$glob_mysql_test_dir);
+    mtr_add_arg($args, "--ssl");
   }
   elsif ( $opt_ssl_supported )
   {
-    mtr_add_arg($args, "--skip-ssl",
-		$glob_mysql_test_dir);
+    mtr_add_arg($args, "--skip-ssl");
   }
 
   # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -4654,9 +4653,12 @@ Options to control directories to use
   vardir=DIR            The directory where files generated from the test run
                         is stored (default: ./var). Specifying a ramdisk or
                         tmpfs will speed up tests.
-  mem                   Run testsuite in "memory" using tmpfs if
-                        available(default: /dev/shm)
-                        reads path from MTR_MEM environment variable
+  mem[=DIR]             Run testsuite in "memory" using tmpfs or ramdisk
+                        Attempts to use DIR first if specified else
+                        uses as builtin list of standard locations
+                        for tmpfs (/dev/shm)
+                        The option can also be set using environment
+                        variable MTR_MEM=[DIR]
 
 Options to control what test suites or cases to run