diff --git a/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test b/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
index 48296e17658..6b1c7e19ded 100755
--- a/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
+++ b/Scripts/developer_scripts/create_cgal_test
@@ -97,6 +97,22 @@ cat << EOF
 
 compile_and_run()
 {
+
+  if [ -z "\${CGAL_DATA_DIR}" ]; then
+    if [ -d ../../data ]; then
+      CGAL_DATA_DIR=../../data
+    else
+      if [ -d ../../../Data/data ]; then
+        CGAL_DATA_DIR=../../../Data/data
+      else
+        echo "ERROR: Cannot run test script, please set the variable CGAL_DATA_DIR"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  echo "Runs will be using CGAL_DATA_DIR = \${CGAL_DATA_DIR}"
+
   echo "Compiling \$1 ... "
   SUCCESS="y"
 
@@ -113,7 +129,7 @@ compile_and_run()
       rm -f \$OUTPUTFILE
       COMMAND="./\$1"
       if [ -f \$1.cmd ] ; then
-        COMMAND="\$COMMAND \`cat \$1.cmd\`"
+        COMMAND="\$COMMAND \`envsubst < \$1.cmd\`"
       fi
       if [ -f \$1.cin ] ; then
         COMMAND="cat \$1.cin | \$COMMAND"