diff --git a/.bzrignore b/.bzrignore
index fcbf594b..853b28a6 100644
--- a/.bzrignore
+++ b/.bzrignore
@@ -7,4 +7,3 @@ release
 snapshot
 .DS_Store
 build
-special/percona-toolkit/v-c-internal
diff --git a/bin/pt-archiver b/bin/pt-archiver
index 5618229d..668560ee 100755
--- a/bin/pt-archiver
+++ b/bin/pt-archiver
@@ -4697,10 +4697,11 @@ local $Data::Dumper::Indent    = 1;
 local $Data::Dumper::Sortkeys  = 1;
 local $Data::Dumper::Quotekeys = 0;
 
-use Digest::MD5    qw(md5_hex);
-use Sys::Hostname  qw(hostname);
+use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_hex);
+use Sys::Hostname qw(hostname);
 use File::Basename qw();
 use File::Spec;
+use FindBin qw();
 
 eval {
    require Percona::Toolkit;
@@ -4740,12 +4741,14 @@ sub version_check {
    my $instances = $args{instances} || [];
    my $instances_to_check;
 
-   eval {
-      if (exists $ENV{PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK} && !$ENV{PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK}) {
-         PTDEBUG && _d('--version-check disabled by PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK=0');
+   if ( !$args{force} ) {
+      if ( $FindBin::Bin && -d "$FindBin::Bin/../.bzr" ) {
+         PTDEBUG && _d("$FindBin::Bin/../.bzr disables --version-check");
          return;
       }
+   }
 
+   eval {
       foreach my $instance ( @$instances ) {
          my ($name, $id) = get_instance_id($instance);
          $instance->{name} = $name;
@@ -4793,15 +4796,17 @@ sub version_check {
       PTDEBUG && _d('Version check failed:', $EVAL_ERROR);
    }
 
-   eval {
-      update_check_times(
-         instances => $instances_to_check,
-         vc_file   => $args{vc_file},  # testing
-         now       => $args{now},      # testing
-      );
-   };
-   if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-      PTDEBUG && _d('Error updating version check file:', $EVAL_ERROR);
+   if ( @$instances_to_check ) {
+      eval {
+         update_check_times(
+            instances => $instances_to_check,
+            vc_file   => $args{vc_file},  # testing
+            now       => $args{now},      # testing
+         );
+      };
+      if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
+         PTDEBUG && _d('Error updating version check file:', $EVAL_ERROR);
+      }
    }
 
    if ( $ENV{PTDEBUG_VERSION_CHECK} ) {
@@ -5770,6 +5775,7 @@ sub main {
    # ########################################################################
    if ( $o->get('version-check') && (!$o->has('quiet') || !$o->get('quiet')) ) {
       VersionCheck::version_check(
+         force     => $o->got('version-check'),
          instances => [
             { dbh => $src->{dbh}, dsn => $src->{dsn} },
             ( $dst ? { dbh => $dst->{dbh}, dsn => $dst->{dsn} } : () ),
diff --git a/lib/Percona/Toolkit.pm b/lib/Percona/Toolkit.pm
index 492c2fce..0bc8c959 100644
--- a/lib/Percona/Toolkit.pm
+++ b/lib/Percona/Toolkit.pm
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# This program is copyright 2012 Percona Inc.
+# This program is copyright 2012-2013 Percona Ireland Ltd.
 # Feedback and improvements are welcome.
 #
 # THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 package Percona::Toolkit;
 our $VERSION = '2.1.8';
 
-sub bzr_repo { q{~percona-toolkit-dev} }
-
 1;
 }
 # ###########################################################################
diff --git a/lib/VersionCheck.pm b/lib/VersionCheck.pm
index 6f735f90..cea09b68 100644
--- a/lib/VersionCheck.pm
+++ b/lib/VersionCheck.pm
@@ -37,14 +37,11 @@ local $Data::Dumper::Indent    = 1;
 local $Data::Dumper::Sortkeys  = 1;
 local $Data::Dumper::Quotekeys = 0;
 
-use Digest::MD5    qw(md5_hex);
-use Sys::Hostname  qw(hostname);
+use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_hex);
+use Sys::Hostname qw(hostname);
 use File::Basename qw();
 use File::Spec;
-
-use IPC::Cmd qw(can_run);
-use FindBin  qw();
-use Cwd      qw();
+use FindBin qw();
 
 eval {
    require Percona::Toolkit;
@@ -104,42 +101,19 @@ sub version_check {
    my $instances = $args{instances} || [];
    my $instances_to_check;
 
-   eval {
-      if (exists $ENV{PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK} && !$ENV{PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK}) {
-         PTDEBUG && _d('--version-check disabled by PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK=0');
+   # This sub should only be called if $o->get('version-check') is true,
+   # and it is by default because the option is on by default in PT 2.2.
+   # However, we do not want dev and testing to v-c, so even though this
+   # sub is called, force should be false because $o->got('version-check')
+   # is false, then check for a .bzr dir which indicates dev or testing. 
+   if ( !$args{force} ) {
+      if ( $FindBin::Bin && -d "$FindBin::Bin/../.bzr" ) {
+         PTDEBUG && _d("$FindBin::Bin/../.bzr disables --version-check");
          return;
       }
+   }
 
-      if ( !$ENV{PERCONA_FORCE_VERSION_CHECK} ) {
-         # Check if we're running from a bzr repo, and that repo is ours.
-         if ( my $bzr = can_run('bzr') ) {
-            my $percona_repo = Percona::Toolkit::bzr_repo();
-            my $info         = `$bzr info 2>/dev/null`;
-            if ( $info && $info =~ /\Q$percona_repo/ ) {
-               PTDEBUG && _d('--version-check disabled by running from a bzr checkout');
-               return;
-            }
-         }
-
-         # Perhaps bzr isn't available, but we're still running from
-         # a bzr repo. Brian occasionally does this when running in
-         # his VMs, since it's usually easier than installing bzr.
-         # So check if $Cwd/.bzrignore or $FindBin::Bin/../.bzrignore
-         # exist, and if they do, check if it has this line:
-         # special/percona-toolkit/v-c-internal
-         for my $dir ( Cwd::cwd(), File::Spec->updir($FindBin::Bin) ) {
-            my $ignore = File::Spec->catfile($dir, '.bzrignore');
-            next unless -r $ignore;
-            open my $fh, '<', $ignore or next;
-            chomp(my $file_contents = do { local $/ = undef; <$fh> });
-            close $fh;
-            if ( $file_contents =~ m{special/percona-toolkit/v-c-internal} ) {
-               PTDEBUG && _d('--version-check disabled by running from a bzr checkout');
-               return;
-            }
-         }
-      }
-
+   eval {
       # Name and ID the instances.  The name is for debugging,
       # and the ID is what the code uses to prevent double-checking.
       foreach my $instance ( @$instances ) {
@@ -195,17 +169,19 @@ sub version_check {
    }
 
    # Always update the vc file, even if the version check fails.
-   eval {
-      # Update the check time for things we checked.  I.e. if we
-      # didn't check it, do _not_ update its time.
-      update_check_times(
-         instances => $instances_to_check,
-         vc_file   => $args{vc_file},  # testing
-         now       => $args{now},      # testing
-      );
-   };
-   if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-      PTDEBUG && _d('Error updating version check file:', $EVAL_ERROR);
+   if ( @$instances_to_check ) {
+      eval {
+         # Update the check time for things we checked.  I.e. if we
+         # didn't check it, do _not_ update its time.
+         update_check_times(
+            instances => $instances_to_check,
+            vc_file   => $args{vc_file},  # testing
+            now       => $args{now},      # testing
+         );
+      };
+      if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
+         PTDEBUG && _d('Error updating version check file:', $EVAL_ERROR);
+      }
    }
 
    if ( $ENV{PTDEBUG_VERSION_CHECK} ) {
diff --git a/sandbox/test-env b/sandbox/test-env
index e152a22a..5b0cec82 100755
--- a/sandbox/test-env
+++ b/sandbox/test-env
@@ -107,31 +107,6 @@ checkconfig() {
       fi
    fi
 
-   if [ ! -f "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf" ]; then
-      conf_err=1
-      stat="DOES NOT EXIST"
-   else
-      stat="ok"
-   fi
-   if [ $print_conf ]; then
-      echo "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf - $stat"
-   fi
-
-   if [ -f "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf" ]; then
-      grep "no-version-check" "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf"
-      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-         conf_err=1
-         stat="DOES NOT HAVE no-version-check"
-      else
-         stat="ok"
-      fi
-      if [ $print_conf ]; then
-         echo "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf - $stat"
-      fi
-   else
-      echo "/etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf - DOES NOT HAVE no-version-check"
-   fi
-
    return $conf_err
 }
 
diff --git a/t/pt-archiver/version_check.t b/t/pt-archiver/version_check.t
index 31adef4d..7e255f22 100644
--- a/t/pt-archiver/version_check.t
+++ b/t/pt-archiver/version_check.t
@@ -38,32 +38,37 @@ unlink $vc_file if -f $vc_file;
 $sb->create_dbs($master_dbh, ['test']);
 $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-archiver/samples/tables1-4.sql');
 
+# Normally --version-check is on by default, but in dev/testing envs,
+# there's going to be a .bzr dir that auto-disables --version-check so
+# our dev/test boxes don't flood the v-c database.  Consequently,
+# have have to explicitly give --version-check to force the check.
+
 $output = `PTDEBUG=1 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge --version-check 2>&1`;
 
 like(
    $output,
-   qr/VersionCheck/,
+   qr/VersionCheck:\d+ \d+ Server response/,
    "Looks like the version-check happened"
 ) or diag($output);
 
+ok(
+   -f $vc_file,
+   "Version check file was created"
+) or diag($output);
+
 $rows = $master_dbh->selectall_arrayref("SELECT * FROM test.table_1");
 is_deeply(
    $rows,
    [],
    "Tool ran after version-check"
-) or diag(Dumper($rows));
-
-ok(
-   -f $vc_file,
-   "Created version check file"
-);
-
-my $orig_vc_file = `cat $vc_file 2>/dev/null`;
+) or diag(Dumper($rows), $output);
 
 # ###########################################################################
 # v-c file should limit checks to 1 per 24 hours
 # ###########################################################################
 
+my $orig_vc_file = `cat $vc_file 2>/dev/null`;
+
 $output = `PTDEBUG=1 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge --version-check 2>&1`;
 
 like(
@@ -78,7 +83,7 @@ is(
    $new_vc_file,
    $orig_vc_file,
    "Version check file not changed"
-);
+) or diag($output);
 
 unlink $vc_file if -f $vc_file;
 
@@ -94,7 +99,7 @@ my $t = time - $t0;
 
 like(
    $output,
-   qr/Error.+?(?:GET on https?:\/\/x\.percona\.com.+?HTTP status 5\d+|Failed to get any program versions; should have at least gotten Perl)/,
+   qr/Version check failed: GET on \S+x.percona.com returned HTTP status 5../,
    "The Percona server didn't respond"
 );
 
@@ -109,33 +114,46 @@ cmp_ok(
    "Tool waited a short while for the Percona server to respond"
 );
 
+# ###########################################################################
+# Disable --version-check.
+# ###########################################################################
+
 unlink $vc_file if -f $vc_file;
 
-# ###########################################################################
-# Disable the v-c.  It's already disabled, actually: test-env requires
-# no-version-check in /etc/percona-toolkit/percona-toolkit.conf (to keep
-# every test everywhere from version-checking).
-# ###########################################################################
-
-$output = `PTDEBUG=1 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge 2>&1`;
+$output = `PTDEBUG=1 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge --no-version-check 2>&1`;
 
 unlike(
    $output,
    qr/VersionCheck/,
-   "Looks like no --version-check disabled the version-check"
+   "Looks like --no-version-check disabled the check"
 ) or diag($output);
 
 ok(
    !-f $vc_file,
-   "percona-toolkit-version-check file not created with --no-version-check"
-);
+   "... version check file was not created"
+) or diag(`cat $vc_file`);
 
-$output = `PTDEBUG=1 PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK=0 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge --version-check 2>&1`;
+# Since this is a test, VersionCheck should detect the .bzr dir
+# and disble itself even without --no-version-check.
+
+$output = `PTDEBUG=1 $cmd --source F=$cnf,D=test,t=table_1 --where 1=1 --purge 2>&1`;
+
+like(
+   $output,
+   qr/\.bzr disables --version-check/,
+   "Looks like .bzr disabled the check"
+) or diag($output);
+
+unlike(
+   $output,
+   qr/Updating last check time/,
+   "... version check file was not updated"
+) or diag($output);
 
 ok(
    !-f $vc_file,
-   "Looks like PERCONA_VERSION_CHECK=0 disabled the version-check"
-);
+   "... version check file was not created"
+) or diag($output, `cat $vc_file`);
 
 # #############################################################################
 # Done.
@@ -144,4 +162,3 @@ unlink $vc_file if -f $vc_file;
 $sb->wipe_clean($master_dbh);
 ok($sb->ok(), "Sandbox servers") or BAIL_OUT(__FILE__ . " broke the sandbox");
 done_testing;
-exit;