diff --git a/README b/README
index 0dfb0fe18..0475dad79 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 vpx Multi-Format Codec SDK
-README - 19 May 2010
+README - 21 June 2012
 
 Welcome to the WebM VP8 Codec SDK!
 
@@ -15,11 +15,19 @@ COMPILING THE APPLICATIONS/LIBRARIES:
     * Building the documentation requires PHP[3] and Doxygen[4]. If you do not
       have these packages, you must pass --disable-install-docs to the
       configure script.
+    * Downloading the data for the unit tests requires curl[5] and sha1sum.
+      sha1sum is provided via the GNU coreutils, installed by default on
+      many *nix platforms, as well as MinGW and Cygwin. If coreutils is not
+      available, a compatible version of sha1sum can be built from
+      source[6]. These requirements are optional if not running the unit
+      tests.
 
     [1]: http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm
     [2]: http://www.cygwin.com
     [3]: http://php.net
     [4]: http://www.doxygen.org
+    [5]: http://curl.haxx.se
+    [6]: http://www.microbrew.org/tools/md5sha1sum/
 
   2. Out-of-tree builds
   Out of tree builds are a supported method of building the application. For
@@ -94,5 +102,5 @@ COMPILING THE APPLICATIONS/LIBRARIES:
 
 SUPPORT
   This library is an open source project supported by its community. Please
-  please email webm-users@webmproject.org for help.
+  please email webm-discuss@webmproject.org for help.
 
diff --git a/build/make/Makefile b/build/make/Makefile
index 26ca0be70..1088c841a 100644
--- a/build/make/Makefile
+++ b/build/make/Makefile
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ all: .DEFAULT
 clean:: .DEFAULT
 install:: .DEFAULT
 test:: .DEFAULT
+testdata:: .DEFAULT
 
 
 # Note: md5sum is not installed on OS X, but openssl is. Openssl may not be
@@ -99,6 +100,8 @@ dist:
 install::
 .PHONY: test
 test::
+.PHONY: testdata
+testdata::
 
 $(BUILD_PFX)%.c.d: %.c
 	$(if $(quiet),@echo "    [DEP] $@")
diff --git a/libs.mk b/libs.mk
index 1f4ffa298..0ddc69a64 100644
--- a/libs.mk
+++ b/libs.mk
@@ -352,10 +352,28 @@ CODEC_DOC_SRCS += vpx/vpx_codec.h \
 ## libvpx test directives
 ##
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_UNIT_TESTS),yes)
+LIBVPX_TEST_DATA_PATH ?= .
 
 include $(SRC_PATH_BARE)/test/test.mk
 LIBVPX_TEST_SRCS=$(addprefix test/,$(call enabled,LIBVPX_TEST_SRCS))
 LIBVPX_TEST_BINS=./test_libvpx
+LIBVPX_TEST_DATA=$(addprefix $(LIBVPX_TEST_DATA_PATH)/,\
+                     $(call enabled,LIBVPX_TEST_DATA))
+libvpx_test_data_url=http://downloads.webmproject.org/test_data/libvpx/$(1)
+
+$(LIBVPX_TEST_DATA):
+	@echo "    [DOWNLOAD] $@"
+	$(qexec)trap 'rm -f $@' INT TERM &&\
+            curl -L -o $@ $(call libvpx_test_data_url,$(@F))
+
+testdata:: $(LIBVPX_TEST_DATA)
+	$(qexec)if [ -x "$$(which sha1sum)" ]; then\
+            echo "Checking test data:";\
+            (cd $(LIBVPX_TEST_DATA_PATH); sha1sum -c)\
+                < $(SRC_PATH_BARE)/test/test-data.sha1; \
+        else\
+            echo "Skipping test data integrity check, sha1sum not found.";\
+        fi
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_EXTERNAL_BUILD),yes)
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_MSVS),yes)
@@ -390,7 +408,7 @@ test_libvpx.vcproj: $(LIBVPX_TEST_SRCS)
 
 PROJECTS-$(CONFIG_MSVS) += test_libvpx.vcproj
 
-test::
+test:: testdata
 	@set -e; for t in $(addprefix Win32/Release/,$(notdir $(LIBVPX_TEST_BINS:.cc=.exe))); do $$t; done
 endif
 else
@@ -422,7 +440,7 @@ $(foreach bin,$(LIBVPX_TEST_BINS),\
         )))\
     $(if $(LIPO_LIBS),$(eval $(call lipo_bin_template,$(bin))))\
 
-test:: $(LIBVPX_TEST_BINS)
+test:: $(LIBVPX_TEST_BINS) testdata
 	@set -e; for t in $(LIBVPX_TEST_BINS); do $$t; done
 
 endif