diff --git a/commands/simpletest/simpletest.drush.inc b/commands/simpletest/simpletest.drush.inc
index 807533f..1d6f5a0 100644
--- a/commands/simpletest/simpletest.drush.inc
+++ b/commands/simpletest/simpletest.drush.inc
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function drush_test_mail($recipients) {
     return drush_set_error('DRUSH_SIMPLETEST_RUNTESTS_SH', dt('You must copy or symlink run-tests.sh into your /scripts directory beneath Drupal root.'));
   }
   
-  $php = drush_find_php();
+  $php = drush_simpletest_find_php();
   $extra = drush_get_option('extra');
   $url = escapeshellarg(url('', array('absolute' => TRUE)));
   $exec = $php . " $run_tests --php '" . $php . '\' --url ' . $url . " $extra";
@@ -71,6 +71,26 @@ function drush_test_mail($recipients) {
   mail($recipients, $subject, $output);
 }
 
+// Copied from run-tests.sh
+function drush_simpletest_find_php() {
+  // Determine location of php command automatically, unless a comamnd line argument is supplied.
+  if (!$php = drush_get_option('php')) {
+    if (!empty($_ENV['_'])) {
+      // '_' is an environment variable set by the shell. It contains the command that was executed.
+      $php = $_ENV['_'];
+    }
+    elseif (!empty($_ENV['SUDO_COMMAND'])) {
+      // 'SUDO_COMMAND' is an environment variable set by the sudo program.
+      // Extract only the PHP interpreter, not the rest of the command.
+      list($php, ) = explode(' ', $_ENV['SUDO_COMMAND'], 2);
+    }
+    else {
+      drush_set_error('DRUSH_SIMPLETEST_PHP_PATH_NOT_FOUND', dt('Unable to automatically determine the path to the PHP interpreter. Please supply the --php argument.'));
+    }
+  }
+  return $php;
+}
+
 // Based on pifr_review_format_results(). Not working yet. Help wanted.
 function drush_simpletest_format_results($output) {
   if (preg_match_all('/^(.*?) (\d+) (?:pass|passes), (\d+) fails?, and (\d+) exceptions?$/m', $output, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER)) {
diff --git a/drush.php b/drush.php
index 360477d..782985b 100755
--- a/drush.php
+++ b/drush.php
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env php
 <?php
 // $Id: drush.php,v 1.72 2009/09/30 15:27:46 weitzman Exp $
 
@@ -20,7 +21,37 @@ if (version_compare(phpversion(), DRUSH_MINIMUM_PHP) < 0) {
 }
 
 define('DRUSH_BASE_PATH', dirname(__FILE__));
-define('DRUSH_COMMAND', $GLOBALS['argv'][0]);
+
+/**
+ * check if we were called directly or as an argument to some php
+ * command
+ *
+ * Calling ./drush.php directly yields the following environment:
+ *
+ * _SERVER["argv"][0] => ./drush.php
+ * _SERVER["_"] => /home/anarcat/dist/drush/./drush.php
+ * 
+ * Calling php ./drush.php yeilds the following:
+ * 
+ * _SERVER["argv"][0] => ./drush.php
+ * _SERVER["_"] => /usr/bin/php
+ *
+ * Therefore, we assume that if $_ finishes with $argv[0], we can call
+ * it directly again. Otherwise, we assume that $_ is the php binary
+ * and $argv[0] is the path to drush.php. We will use __FILE__,
+ * however, since we do not want to rely on (potentially) relative
+ * paths.
+ */
+if (substr($_SERVER['_'], -strlen($_SERVER['argv'][0])) == $_SERVER['argv'][0]) {
+  // $GLOBALS['_'] and $GLOBALS['argv'][0] both finish with the same,
+  // which means we were called directly
+  define('DRUSH_COMMAND', $_SERVER['_']);
+}
+else {
+  // not called directly, we were called as an argument to PHP, which
+  // should be in $GLOBALS['_']
+  define('DRUSH_COMMAND', $_SERVER['_'] . ' ' . __FILE__);
+}
 define('DRUSH_REQUEST_TIME', microtime(TRUE));
 
 require_once DRUSH_BASE_PATH . '/includes/environment.inc';
diff --git a/includes/backend.inc b/includes/backend.inc
index fa864fe..e9d4e18 100644
--- a/includes/backend.inc
+++ b/includes/backend.inc
@@ -326,8 +326,7 @@ function _drush_backend_generate_command($command, &$data, $method = 'GET', $dru
     $command .= ' ' . escapeshellarg($arg);
   }
   // @TODO: Implement proper multi platform / multi server support.
-  $php  = drush_find_php();
-  $cmd = $php . sprintf(escapeshellcmd(" %s %s %s --backend"), escapeshellcmd($drush_path), $option_str, $command);
+  $cmd = sprintf(escapeshellcmd("%s %s %s --backend"), escapeshellcmd($drush_path), $option_str, $command);
 
   if (!is_null($hostname)) {
     $username = (!is_null($username)) ? $username : get_current_user();
diff --git a/includes/drush.inc b/includes/drush.inc
index a0425c0..af84afb 100644
--- a/includes/drush.inc
+++ b/includes/drush.inc
@@ -298,7 +298,6 @@ function drush_get_option_help() {
   $options['-u, --user']               = dt("Specify a user to login with. May be a name or a number.");
   $options['-b, --backend']            = dt("Hide all output and return structured data (internal use only).");
   $options['-p, --pipe']               = dt("Emit a compact representation of the command for scripting.");
-  $options['--php']                    = dt("The absolute path to your PHP intepreter.");
   return $options;
 }
 
diff --git a/includes/environment.inc b/includes/environment.inc
index dede0c7..797b97e 100644
--- a/includes/environment.inc
+++ b/includes/environment.inc
@@ -830,26 +830,6 @@ function drush_valid_db_credentials() {
   }
 }
 
-// Copied from run-tests.sh
-function drush_find_php() {
-  // Determine location of php command automatically, unless a command line argument is supplied.
-  if (!$php = drush_get_option('php')) {
-    if (!empty($_ENV['_'])) {
-      // '_' is an environment variable set by the shell. It contains the command that was executed.
-      $php = $_ENV['_'];
-    }
-    elseif (!empty($_ENV['SUDO_COMMAND'])) {
-      // 'SUDO_COMMAND' is an environment variable set by the sudo program.
-      // Extract only the PHP interpreter, not the rest of the command.
-      list($php, ) = explode(' ', $_ENV['SUDO_COMMAND'], 2);
-    }
-    else {
-      drush_set_error('DRUSH_PHP_PATH_NOT_FOUND', dt('Unable to automatically determine the path to the PHP interpreter. Please supply the --php argument.'));
-    }
-  }
-  return $php;
-}
-
 /**
  * Get module information for all installed modules. Wrapper for _drush_get_modules().
  *