Index: build/run_tests.py
===================================================================
--- build/run_tests.py	(revision 22227)
+++ build/run_tests.py	(working copy)
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 #
 
 '''usage: python run_tests.py [--url=<base-url>] [--fs-type=<fs-type>]
-                    [--verbose] [--cleanup] [--enable-sasl]
+                    [--verbose] [--cleanup] [--enable-sasl] [--parallel]
                     <abs_srcdir> <abs_builddir>
                     <prog ...>
 
-The optional base-url, fs-type, verbose, and cleanup options, and
-the first two parameters are passed unchanged to the TestHarness
+The optional base-url, fs-type, verbose, cleanup and parallel options,
+and the first two parameters are passed unchanged to the TestHarness
 constructor.  All other parameters are names of test programs.
 '''
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
   def __init__(self, abs_srcdir, abs_builddir, logfile,
                base_url=None, fs_type=None, verbose=None, cleanup=None,
-               enable_sasl=None):
+               enable_sasl=None, parallel=None):
     '''Construct a TestHarness instance.
 
     ABS_SRCDIR and ABS_BUILDDIR are the source and build directories.
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     self.verbose = verbose
     self.cleanup = cleanup
     self.enable_sasl = enable_sasl
+    self.parallel = parallel
     self.log = None
 
   def run(self, list):
@@ -114,6 +115,8 @@
       cmdline.append('--cleanup')
     if self.fs_type is not None:
       cmdline.append(quote('--fs-type=' + self.fs_type))
+    if self.parallel is not None:
+      cmdline.append('--parallel')
 
     old_cwd = os.getcwd()
     try:
@@ -165,9 +168,9 @@
 
 def main():
   try:
-    opts, args = my_getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'u:f:vc',
+    opts, args = my_getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'u:f:vcp',
                            ['url=', 'fs-type=', 'verbose', 'cleanup', 
-                            'enable-sasl'])
+                            'enable-sasl', 'parallel'])
   except getopt.GetoptError:
     args = []
 
@@ -175,8 +178,8 @@
     print __doc__
     sys.exit(2)
 
-  base_url, fs_type, verbose, cleanup, enable_sasl = None, None, None, None, \
-                                                     None
+  base_url, fs_type, verbose, cleanup, enable_sasl, parallel = None, None, None, \
+                                                               None, None, None
   for opt, val in opts:
     if opt in ('-u', '--url'):
       base_url = val
@@ -188,12 +191,14 @@
       cleanup = 1
     elif opt in ('--enable-sasl'):
       enable_sasl = 1
+    elif opt in ('-p', '--parallel'):
+      parallel = 1
     else:
       raise getopt.GetoptError
 
   th = TestHarness(args[0], args[1],
                    os.path.abspath('tests.log'),
-                   base_url, fs_type, verbose, cleanup, enable_sasl)
+                   base_url, fs_type, verbose, cleanup, enable_sasl, parallel)
 
   failed = th.run(args[2:])
   if failed:
Index: Makefile.in
===================================================================
--- Makefile.in	(revision 22227)
+++ Makefile.in	(working copy)
@@ -368,6 +368,9 @@
 	  if test "$(ENABLE_SASL)" != ""; then                               \
 	    flags="--enable-sasl $$flags";                                   \
 	  fi;                                                                \
+	  if test "$(PARALLEL)" != ""; then                                  \
+	    flags="--parallel $$flags";                                      \
+	  fi;                                                                \
 	  $(PYTHON) $(top_srcdir)/build/run_tests.py $$flags                 \
 		    '$(abs_srcdir)' '$(abs_builddir)' $(TESTS);              \
 	else                                                                 \