diff --git a/testsuite/tools/meson.build b/testsuite/tools/meson.build
index 1364a98679..fd385ba174 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/meson.build
+++ b/testsuite/tools/meson.build
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ if bash.found()
     test(t, bash,
          args: t,
          workdir: meson.current_build_dir(),
+         protocol: 'tap',
          env: [ 'GIO_USE_VOLUME_MONITOR=unix',
                 'GSETTINGS_BACKEND=memory',
                 'GDK_DEBUG=default-settings',
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/settings.in b/testsuite/tools/settings.in
index 38a69c1b00..98c9acc04d 100755
--- a/testsuite/tools/settings.in
+++ b/testsuite/tools/settings.in
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ echo "1..1"
 name=gtk-query-settings
 result=$TEST_RESULT_DIR/$name.out
 $GTK_QUERY_SETTINGS 2>/dev/null >$result
-if [ $(wc -l $result | cut -f1 -d' ') -eq 882 ]; then
+if [ $(wc -l $result | cut -f1 -d' ') -eq 48 ]; then
   echo "ok 1 $name"
 else
   echo "not ok 1 $name"
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-3to4.in b/testsuite/tools/simplify-3to4.in
index 693e8bd05f..31d7da0970 100755
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-3to4.in
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-3to4.in
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
 GTK_BUILDER_TOOL=${GTK_BUILDER_TOOL:-gtk4-builder-tool}
-TEST_DATA_DIR=${TEST_DATA_DIR:-./simplify-data-3to4}
+TEST_DATA_DIR=${G_TEST_SRCDIR:-.}/simplify-data-3to4
 TEST_RESULT_DIR=${TEST_RESULT_DIR:-/tmp}
 
 shopt -s nullglob
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data-3to4/popover.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data-3to4/popover.expected
index 84263bd86f..9f2cafebc7 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data-3to4/popover.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data-3to4/popover.expected
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkPopover" id="popover">
-    <property name="modal">0</property>
+    <property name="autohide">0</property>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test1.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test1.expected
index de1472e5cd..23509c8237 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test1.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test1.expected
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-<!-- default property gets stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
-  <object class="GtkWindow">
-  </object>
+  <object class="GtkWindow"/>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test2.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test2.expected
index 99fefb9511..0bb3f4e18b 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test2.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test2.expected
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- non-default property not stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <property name="visible">1</property>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test3.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test3.expected
index 6b9c07f163..511e7ee76b 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test3.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test3.expected
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- translatable property not stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <property name="visible" translatable="yes">0</property>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.expected
index 286f1062ec..be8d6b5981 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.expected
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-<!-- irrelevant comments and context are stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
-    <property name="visible">1</property>
+    <property name="visible" comments="foo" context="bla">1</property>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.ui
index eb5b0f0ea6..cf9c66b091 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.ui
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test4.ui
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- irrelevant comments and context are stripped -->
+<!-- comments and context are preserved -->
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <property name="visible" comments="foo" context="bla">True</property>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.expected
index 1fb898bc0e..24b18f4a52 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.expected
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
-<!-- placeholders are stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <child>
       <object class="GtkBox">
+        <child>
+          <placeholder/>
+        </child>
       </object>
     </child>
   </object>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.ui
index e379abdb2c..66ccb2016b 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.ui
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test5.ui
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- placeholders are stripped -->
+<!-- placeholders are preserved -->
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <child>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.expected
index 8d4495b50e..3ee19043ff 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.expected
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-<!-- non-canonical property name works -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
+    <property name="default_height">200</property>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.ui
index e4f394dc21..c0a5673f10 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.ui
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test6.ui
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 <interface>
   <object class="GtkWindow">
     <property name="default_width">-1</property>
+    <property name="default_height">200</property>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.expected
index a75c4d4570..22f627bfa8 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.expected
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.expected
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-<!-- default child property gets stripped -->
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <interface>
-  <object class="GtkBox">
+  <object class="GtkGrid">
     <child>
-      <object class="GtkLabel"/>
+      <object class="GtkLabel">
+        <layout>
+          <property name="row-span">2</property>
+        </layout>
+      </object>
     </child>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.ui
index 52e0da2f4b..2b08eae6ad 100644
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.ui
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test7.ui
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
-<!-- default child property gets stripped -->
+<!-- default layout property gets stripped -->
 <interface>
-  <object class="GtkBox">
+  <object class="GtkGrid">
     <child>
       <object class="GtkLabel">
+        <layout>
+          <property name="column-span">1</property>
+          <property name="row-span">2</property>
+        </layout>
       </object>
-      <packing>
-        <property name="expand">False</property>
-      </packing>
     </child>
   </object>
 </interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.expected
deleted file mode 100644
index df3c4077e3..0000000000
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.expected
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-<!-- non-default child property remains -->
-<interface>
-  <object class="GtkBox">
-    <child>
-      <object class="GtkLabel"/>
-      <packing>
-        <property name="expand">1</property>
-      </packing>
-    </child>
-  </object>
-</interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.ui
deleted file mode 100644
index 1aec7adfea..0000000000
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test8.ui
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-<!-- non-default child property remains -->
-<interface>
-  <object class="GtkBox">
-    <child>
-      <object class="GtkLabel">
-      </object>
-      <packing>
-        <property name="expand">True</property>
-      </packing>
-    </child>
-  </object>
-</interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.expected b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.expected
deleted file mode 100644
index 731b05e586..0000000000
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.expected
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<interface>
-  <object class="GtkGrid">
-    <child>
-      <object class="GtkLabel">
-        <layout>
-          <property name="left-attach">0</property>
-          <property name="top-attach">0</property>
-        </layout>
-      </object>
-    </child>
-  </object>
-</interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.ui b/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.ui
deleted file mode 100644
index b64bf8c463..0000000000
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify-data/test9.ui
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-<!-- non-default child property remains -->
-<interface>
-  <object class="GtkGrid">
-    <child>
-      <object class="GtkLabel">
-        <layout>
-          <property name="left-attach">0</property>
-          <property name="top-attach">0</property>
-        </layout>
-      </object>
-    </child>
-  </object>
-</interface>
diff --git a/testsuite/tools/simplify.in b/testsuite/tools/simplify.in
index 08059f3c17..c92c5c6d9c 100755
--- a/testsuite/tools/simplify.in
+++ b/testsuite/tools/simplify.in
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
 GTK_BUILDER_TOOL=${GTK_BUILDER_TOOL:-gtk4-builder-tool}
-TEST_DATA_DIR=${TEST_DATA_DIR:-./simplify-data}
+TEST_DATA_DIR=${G_TEST_SRCDIR:-.}/simplify-data
 TEST_RESULT_DIR=${TEST_RESULT_DIR:-/tmp}
 
 shopt -s nullglob