diff --git a/test/bug.986.t b/test/bug.986.t
index 1770b37ac..b99064a98 100755
--- a/test/bug.986.t
+++ b/test/bug.986.t
@@ -1,68 +1,62 @@
-#! /usr/bin/env perl
-################################################################################
-##
-## Copyright 2006 - 2015, Paul Beckingham, Federico Hernandez.
-##
-## Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
-## of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
-## in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
-## to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
-## copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
-## furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-##
-## The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
-## in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
-##
-## THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
-## OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
-## FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
-## THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
-## LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
-## OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
-## SOFTWARE.
-##
-## http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
-##
-################################################################################
+#!/usr/bin/env python2.7
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+###############################################################################
+#
+# Copyright 2006 - 2015, Paul Beckingham, Federico Hernandez.
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+# in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+# OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
+# THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+# SOFTWARE.
+#
+# http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
+#
+###############################################################################
 
-use strict;
-use warnings;
-use Test::More tests => 3;
+import sys
+import os
+import unittest
+# Ensure python finds the local simpletap module
+sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
-# Ensure environment has no influence.
-delete $ENV{'TASKDATA'};
-delete $ENV{'TASKRC'};
+from basetest import Task, TestCase
+from basetest import Taskd, ServerTestCase
 
-use File::Basename;
-my $ut = basename ($0);
-my $rc = $ut . '.rc';
 
-# Create the rc file.
-if (open my $fh, '>', $rc)
-{
-  print $fh "data.location=.\n",
-            "verbose=nothing\n";
-  close $fh;
-}
+class TestBug986(TestCase):
 
-# Bug 986 - 'task info' does not format date using dateformat.report
-# Rely on the assumption that the default date format is 'm/d/Y'
+    def setUp(self):
+        """Executed before each test in the class"""
+        self.t = Task()
 
-# Create one task (with a creation date) and one journal entry (with a
-# timestamp and a date inside the entry)
-qx{../src/task rc:$rc add test 2>&1};
-qx{../src/task rc:$rc test start 2>&1};
+    def test_dateformat_precedence(self):
+        """Verify rc.dateformat.info takes precedence over rc.dateformat"""
+        self.t('add test')
+        self.t('1 start')
 
-# Test that dateformat.info has precedence over dateformat and that no other
-# format is applied
-my $output = qx{../src/task rc:$rc test info rc.dateformat:m/d/Y rc.dateformat.info:__ 2>&1};
-like   ($output, qr/__/ms,                       "$ut: Date formatted according to dateformat.info");
-unlike ($output, qr/[0-9]*\/[0-9]*\/20[0-9]*/ms, "$ut: No date is incorrectly formatted");
+        code, out, err = self.t('1 info rc.dateformat:XX rc.dateformat.info:__')
+        self.assertIn('__', out)
+        self.assertNotIn('XX', out)
 
-# Similar for dateformat
-$output = qx{../src/task rc:$rc test info rc.dateformat:__ rc.dateformat.info: 2>&1};
-like   ($output, qr/__/ms,                       "$ut: Date formatted according to dateformat");
+        code, out, err = self.t('1 info rc.dateformat:__ rc.dateformat.info:')
+        self.assertIn('__', out)
 
-# Cleanup.
-unlink qw(pending.data completed.data undo.data backlog.data), $rc;
-exit 0;
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    from simpletap import TAPTestRunner
+    unittest.main(testRunner=TAPTestRunner())
+
+# vim: ai sts=4 et sw=4