diff --git a/tests/ssl-opt.sh b/tests/ssl-opt.sh
index 280fc6348..7f5510cce 100755
--- a/tests/ssl-opt.sh
+++ b/tests/ssl-opt.sh
@@ -597,16 +597,22 @@ fi
 get_options "$@"
 
 # sanity checks, avoid an avalanche of errors
-if [ ! -x "$P_SRV" ]; then
-    echo "Command '$P_SRV' is not an executable file"
+P_SRV_BIN=$(echo "$P_SRV" | sed -r -n "s/^([^ ]*).*$/\1/p")
+echo "Server binary: ${P_SRV_BIN}"
+P_CLI_BIN=$(echo "$P_CLI" | sed -r -n "s/^([^ ]*).*$/\1/p")
+echo "Client binary: ${P_CLI_BIN}"
+P_PXY_BIN=$(echo "$P_PXY" | sed -r -n "s/^([^ ]*).*$/\1/p")
+echo "Proxy binary: ${P_PXY_BIN}"
+if [ ! -x "$P_SRV_BIN" ]; then
+    echo "Command '$P_SRV_BIN' is not an executable file"
     exit 1
 fi
-if [ ! -x "$P_CLI" ]; then
-    echo "Command '$P_CLI' is not an executable file"
+if [ ! -x "$P_CLI_BIN" ]; then
+    echo "Command '$P_CLI_BIN' is not an executable file"
     exit 1
 fi
-if [ ! -x "$P_PXY" ]; then
-    echo "Command '$P_PXY' is not an executable file"
+if [ ! -x "$P_PXY_BIN" ]; then
+    echo "Command '$P_PXY_BIN' is not an executable file"
     exit 1
 fi
 if [ "$MEMCHECK" -gt 0 ]; then