diff --git a/test/shaping/hb-diff-filter-failures b/test/shaping/hb-diff-filter-failures
index 663c9ec55..5b00eae03 100755
--- a/test/shaping/hb-diff-filter-failures
+++ b/test/shaping/hb-diff-filter-failures
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 
 from hb_test_tools import *
 
-UtilMains.process_multiple_files (DiffFilters.filter_failures)
+UtilMains.filter_multiple_strings_or_stdin (Unicode.decode, "UNICODE_STRING")
diff --git a/test/shaping/hb-manifest-read b/test/shaping/hb-manifest-read
index 46c6eb5ba..bfca2c0dc 100755
--- a/test/shaping/hb-manifest-read
+++ b/test/shaping/hb-manifest-read
@@ -1,36 +1,5 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/python
 
-if test $# = 0; then
-	echo "Usage: $0 DIR..."
-	exit 1
-fi
+from hb_test_tools import *
 
-strict=true
-
-recurse () {
-	if ! test -e "$1"; then
-		if $strict; then
-			echo "$0: $1 does not exist" 1>&2
-			exit 1
-		fi
-	fi
-	if test -d "$1"; then
-		if test -f "$1/MANIFEST"; then
-			cat "$1/MANIFEST" | while read f; do
-				recurse "$1/$f"
-			done
-		else
-			if $strict; then
-				echo "$0: $1/MANIFEST does not exist" 1>&2
-				exit 1
-			fi
-		fi
-	else
-		echo "$1"
-	fi
-}
-
-for root in "$@"; do
-	root=${root%/}
-	recurse "$root";
-done
+UtilMains.process_multiple_args (Manifest.print_to_stdout, mnemonic="DIR")
diff --git a/test/shaping/hb_test_tools.py b/test/shaping/hb_test_tools.py
index 18217d7b0..471502f25 100644
--- a/test/shaping/hb_test_tools.py
+++ b/test/shaping/hb_test_tools.py
@@ -106,23 +106,33 @@ class ShapeFilters:
 class UtilMains:
 
 	@staticmethod
-	def process_multiple_files (callback):
+	def process_multiple_files (callback, mnemonic = "FILE"):
 
 		if len (sys.argv) == 1:
-			print "Usage: %s FILE..." % sys.argv[0]
+			print "Usage: %s %s..." % (sys.argv[0], mnemonic)
 			sys.exit (1)
 
 		for s in sys.argv[1:]:
 			callback (FileHelpers.open_file_or_stdin (s))
 
 	@staticmethod
-	def filter_multiple_strings_or_stdin (callback, string_mnemonic, \
+	def process_multiple_args (callback, mnemonic):
+
+		if len (sys.argv) == 1:
+			print "Usage: %s %s..." % (sys.argv[0], mnemonic)
+			sys.exit (1)
+
+		for s in sys.argv[1:]:
+			callback (s)
+
+	@staticmethod
+	def filter_multiple_strings_or_stdin (callback, mnemonic, \
 					      separator = " ", \
 					      concat_separator = False):
 
 		if len (sys.argv) == 1 or ('--stdin' in sys.argv and len (sys.argv) != 2):
 			print "Usage:\n  %s %s...\nor:\n  %s --stdin" \
-			      % (sys.argv[0], string_mnemonic, sys.argv[0])
+			      % (sys.argv[0], mnemonic, sys.argv[0])
 			sys.exit (1)
 
 		if '--stdin' in sys.argv:
@@ -189,7 +199,7 @@ class Unicode:
 		return u' + '.join (Unicode.pretty_name (x) for x in s).encode ('utf-8')
 
 
-class FileHelprs:
+class FileHelpers:
 
 	@staticmethod
 	def open_file_or_stdin (f):
@@ -197,5 +207,34 @@ class FileHelprs:
 			return sys.stdin
 		return file (f)
 
+
+class Manifest:
+
+	@staticmethod
+	def print_to_stdout (s, strict = True):
+		if not os.path.exists (s):
+			if strict:
+				print >> sys.stderr, "%s: %s does not exist" (sys.argv[0], s)
+				sys.exit (1)
+			return
+
+		if os.path.isdir (s):
+
+			if s[-1] != '/':
+				s += "/"
+
+			try:
+				m = file (s + "/MANIFEST")
+				items = [x.strip () for x in m.readlines ()]
+				for f in items:
+					Manifest.print_to_stdout (s + f)
+			except IOError:
+				if strict:
+					print >> sys.stderr, "%s: %s does not exist" (sys.argv[0], s + "/MANIFEST")
+					sys.exit (1)
+				return
+		else:
+			print s
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 	pass