diff --git a/vg.sh b/vg.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..dd6a8dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vg.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# small valgrind helper to execute unit tests with valgrind
+
+vg="valgrind --leak-check=full --show-reachable=yes"
+cmd=$1
+shift
+
+if test -z "$cmd"; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <commandline ..>"
+    exit 1
+else
+    if echo "$cmd" | egrep "^\.\." > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+	cd tests
+    fi
+fi
+
+$vg $cmd $* > log 2>&1
+less log
+rm -f log
+