diff --git a/src/bin/cargo/commands/verify_project.rs b/src/bin/cargo/commands/verify_project.rs
index eea65c77598..b7887591bd8 100644
--- a/src/bin/cargo/commands/verify_project.rs
+++ b/src/bin/cargo/commands/verify_project.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ use command_prelude::*;
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::process;
-use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::Read;
-
-use toml;
 
 use cargo::print_json;
 
@@ -23,19 +19,8 @@ pub fn exec(config: &mut Config, args: &ArgMatches) -> CliResult {
         process::exit(1)
     }
 
-    let mut contents = String::new();
-    let filename = match args.root_manifest(config) {
-        Ok(filename) => filename,
-        Err(e) => fail("invalid", &e.to_string()),
-    };
-
-    let file = File::open(&filename);
-    match file.and_then(|mut f| f.read_to_string(&mut contents)) {
-        Ok(_) => {}
-        Err(e) => fail("invalid", &format!("error reading file: {}", e)),
-    };
-    if contents.parse::<toml::Value>().is_err() {
-        fail("invalid", "invalid-format");
+    if let Err(e) = args.workspace(config) {
+        fail("invalid", &e.to_string())
     }
 
     let mut h = HashMap::new();
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/cargo_command.rs b/tests/testsuite/cargo_command.rs
index 8e0b6e19f15..793ed50299c 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/cargo_command.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/cargo_command.rs
@@ -265,12 +265,9 @@ fn cargo_subcommand_args() {
     cargo_process("foo bar -v --help")
         .env("PATH", &path)
         .with_stdout(
-            if cfg!(windows) { // weird edge-case w/ CWD & (windows vs unix)
-                format!(r#"[{:?}, "foo", "bar", "-v", "--help"]"#, cargo_foo_bin)
-            } else {
-                r#"["[CWD]/cargo-foo/target/debug/cargo-foo", "foo", "bar", "-v", "--help"]"#.to_string()
-            }
-        ).run();
+            r#"["[CWD]/cargo-foo/target/debug/cargo-foo[EXE]", "foo", "bar", "-v", "--help"]"#,
+        )
+        .run();
 }
 
 #[test]
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/support/mod.rs b/tests/testsuite/support/mod.rs
index 06b7c6c3df9..9c8fbec795c 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/support/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/support/mod.rs
@@ -1188,8 +1188,10 @@ enum MatchKind {
 ///   See `substitute_macros` for a complete list of macros.
 pub fn lines_match(expected: &str, actual: &str) -> bool {
     // Let's not deal with / vs \ (windows...)
-    let expected = expected.replace("\\", "/");
-    let mut actual: &str = &actual.replace("\\", "/");
+    // First replace backslash-escaped backslashes with forward slashes
+    // which can occur in, for example, JSON output
+    let expected = expected.replace("\\\\", "/").replace("\\", "/");
+    let mut actual: &str = &actual.replace("\\\\", "/").replace("\\", "/");
     let expected = substitute_macros(&expected);
     for (i, part) in expected.split("[..]").enumerate() {
         match actual.find(part) {
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/tool_paths.rs b/tests/testsuite/tool_paths.rs
index 5bd256715d6..d952991f322 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/tool_paths.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/tool_paths.rs
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ fn pathless_tools() {
 #[test]
 fn absolute_tools() {
     let target = rustc_host();
-    let root = if cfg!(windows) { r#"C:\"# } else { "/" };
 
     // Escaped as they appear within a TOML config file
     let config = if cfg!(windows) {
@@ -62,14 +61,11 @@ fn absolute_tools() {
             ),
         ).build();
 
-    foo.cargo("build --verbose").with_stderr(&format!(
-            "\
+    foo.cargo("build --verbose").with_stderr("\
 [COMPILING] foo v0.5.0 ([CWD])
-[RUNNING] `rustc [..] -C ar={root}bogus/nonexistent-ar -C linker={root}bogus/nonexistent-linker [..]`
+[RUNNING] `rustc [..] -C ar=[ROOT]bogus/nonexistent-ar -C linker=[ROOT]bogus/nonexistent-linker [..]`
 [FINISHED] dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in [..]
-",
-            root = root,
-        )).run();
+").run();
 }
 
 #[test]
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/verify_project.rs b/tests/testsuite/verify_project.rs
index d368b7c9fb4..060e3e3df52 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/verify_project.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/verify_project.rs
@@ -42,3 +42,27 @@ fn cargo_verify_project_cwd() {
         .with_stdout(verify_project_success_output())
         .run();
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn cargo_verify_project_honours_unstable_features() {
+    let p = project()
+        .file("Cargo.toml", r#"
+        cargo-features = ["test-dummy-unstable"]
+
+        [package]
+        name = "foo"
+        version = "0.0.1"
+    "#)
+        .file("src/lib.rs", "")
+        .build();
+
+    p.cargo("verify-project")
+        .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo()
+        .with_stdout(verify_project_success_output())
+        .run();
+
+    p.cargo("verify-project")
+        .with_status(1)
+        .with_stdout(r#"{"invalid":"failed to parse manifest at `[CWD]/Cargo.toml`"}"#)
+        .run();
+}