diff --git a/binutils/ChangeLog b/binutils/ChangeLog
index 040ec988a8d..73b25e86210 100644
--- a/binutils/ChangeLog
+++ b/binutils/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+2021-02-12  Alan Modra  <amodra@gmail.com>
+
+	* testsuite/binutils-all/objcopy.exp: Report "unsupported" when
+	gas or ld fails to build a testcase rather than "unresolved".
+	Report "fail" when readelf returns an error status rather than
+	"unresolved".
+	* testsuite/binutils-all/ar.exp: Likewise.
+	* testsuite/binutils-all/compress.exp: Likewise.
+	* testsuite/binutils-all/readelf.exp: Likewise.
+
 2021-02-12  Alan Modra  <amodra@gmail.com>
 
 	* testsuite/binutils-all/pr25662.s: Replace "a" with "aaa" and
diff --git a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/ar.exp b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/ar.exp
index 6d640eab900..86f84242b28 100644
--- a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/ar.exp
+++ b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/ar.exp
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ proc symbol_table { } {
     set testname "ar symbol table"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ proc thin_archive { bfdtests } {
     set testname "ar thin archive"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ proc thin_archive_with_nested { bfdtests } {
     set testname "ar thin archive with nested archive"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ proc argument_parsing { } {
     set testname "ar argument parsing"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ proc deterministic_archive { } {
     set testname "ar deterministic archive"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ proc unique_symbol { } {
     set testname "ar unique symbol in archive"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/unique.s tmpdir/unique.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ proc delete_an_element { } {
     set testname "ar deleting an element"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ proc move_an_element { } {
     set testname "ar moving an element"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ proc extract_an_element { } {
     set testname "ar extracting an element"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ proc many_files { } {
 
 	set ofile "tmpdir/d-$i.${obj}"
 	if ![binutils_assemble $sfile $ofile] {
-	    unresolved $testname
+	    unsupported $testname
 	    return
 	}
 
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ proc test_add_dependencies { } {
     set testname "ar adding library dependencies"
 
     if ![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.${obj}] {
-	unresolved $testname
+	unsupported $testname
 	return
     }
 
diff --git a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/compress.exp b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/compress.exp
index 7009bd53a04..e0e04f072e5 100644
--- a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/compress.exp
+++ b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/compress.exp
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ proc convert_test { testname  as_flags  objcop_flags } {
     global OBJDUMP
 
     if { ![binutils_assemble_flags $srcdir/$subdir/dw2-3.S ${testfile3}.o "$as_flags"] } then {
-       unresolved "$testname"
+       unsupported "$testname"
        return
     }
 
diff --git a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/objcopy.exp b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/objcopy.exp
index 8ccca36b3e4..ef251876a02 100644
--- a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/objcopy.exp
+++ b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/objcopy.exp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ proc objcopy_test {testname srcfile type asflags ldflags} {
     }
 
     if {![binutils_assemble_flags $srcdir/$subdir/${srcfile} $t_tempfile "$asflags"]} then {
-	unresolved "objcopy $type ($testname)"
+	unsupported "objcopy $type ($testname)"
 	remote_file host delete $t_tempfile
 	return
     }
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ proc objcopy_test {testname srcfile type asflags ldflags} {
 	set t_copyfile $copyfile
 	set got [binutils_run $LD "$tempfile -o $t_tempfile $ldflags"]
 	if { ![string equal "" $got] } then {
-	    unresolved "objcopy $type ($testname)"
+	    unsupported "objcopy $type ($testname)"
 	    return
 	}
 	set xflags "--preserve-dates"
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ proc objcopy_test_verilog {testname} {
 
     set got [binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/verilogtest.s $binfile]
     if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/verilogtest.s $binfile]} then {
-	unresolved "objcopy ($testname)"
+	unsupported "objcopy ($testname)"
 	return
     }
 
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ proc strip_test { } {
 	verbose -log "$READELF -a tmpdir/testprog.o > tmpdir/osabi.in"
 	set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -h tmpdir/testprog.o" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/osabi.in"]
 	if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	    unresolved "$test preserving OS/ABI"
+	    fail "$test preserving OS/ABI"
 	    set osabi_fail "true"
 	} else {
 	    verbose -log "grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.in"
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ proc strip_test { } {
 	verbose -log "$READELF -a tmpdir/testprog.o > tmpdir/osabi.out"
 	set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -h tmpdir/testprog.o" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/osabi.out"]
 	if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	    unresolved "$test preserving OS/ABI"
+	    fail "$test preserving OS/ABI"
 	} else {
 	    verbose -log "grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.out"
 	    catch "exec grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.out" osabi_out
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ proc strip_executable { prog flags test1 test2 } {
 	verbose -log "$READELF -a ${copyfile} > tmpdir/osabi.in"
 	set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -h ${copyfile}" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/osabi.in"]
 	if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	    unresolved "$test1 preserving OS/ABI"
+	    fail "$test1 preserving OS/ABI"
 	    set osabi_fail "true"
 	} else {
 	    verbose -log "grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.in"
@@ -788,7 +788,7 @@ proc strip_executable { prog flags test1 test2 } {
 	verbose -log "$READELF -a ${copyfile} > tmpdir/osabi.out"
 	set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -h ${copyfile}" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/osabi.out"]
 	if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	    unresolved "$test1 preserving OS/ABI"
+	    fail "$test1 preserving OS/ABI"
 	} else {
 	    verbose -log "grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.out"
 	    catch "exec grep OS/ABI tmpdir/osabi.out" osabi_out
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ proc objcopy_test_readelf {testname srcfile} {
     global subdir
 
     if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/${srcfile} tmpdir/bintest.o]} then {
-	unresolved "objcopy ($testname)"
+	unsupported "objcopy ($testname)"
 	return
     }
 
@@ -1036,7 +1036,7 @@ proc objcopy_test_readelf {testname srcfile} {
     verbose -log "$READELF -a tmpdir/bintest.o > tmpdir/bintest.o.out"
     set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -a tmpdir/bintest.o" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/bintest.o.out"]
     if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	unresolved "objcopy ($testname)"
+	fail "objcopy ($testname)"
 	return
     }
     set exec_output [prune_warnings [lindex $exec_output 1]]
@@ -1048,7 +1048,7 @@ proc objcopy_test_readelf {testname srcfile} {
     verbose -log "$READELF -a tmpdir/copy.o > tmpdir/copy.o.out"
     set exec_output [remote_exec host "$READELF -a tmpdir/copy.o" "" "/dev/null" "tmpdir/copy.o.out"]
     if { [lindex $exec_output 0] != 0 } then {
-	unresolved "objcopy ($testname)"
+	fail "objcopy ($testname)"
 	return
     }
     set exec_output [prune_warnings [lindex $exec_output 1]]
@@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@ if [is_elf_format] {
 	set srcfile $srcdir/$subdir/needed-by-reloc.s
 
 	if {![binutils_assemble $srcfile tmpdir/bintest.o]} then {
-	    unresolved $test
+	    unsupported $test
 	} else {
 	    set got [binutils_run $OBJCOPY "$OBJCOPYFLAGS --strip-symbol=foo tmpdir/bintest.o ${copyfile}.o"]
 
diff --git a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/readelf.exp b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/readelf.exp
index 51d26b762b3..948323c06bb 100644
--- a/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/readelf.exp
+++ b/binutils/testsuite/binutils-all/readelf.exp
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ proc readelf_dump_test {} {
 
     # Assemble the dump test file.
     if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/dumptest.s tmpdir/dumptest.o]} then {
-      unresolved "readelf -p: failed to assemble dump test file"
+      unsupported "readelf -p: failed to assemble dump test file"
       return
     }
     # Download it.
@@ -324,10 +324,10 @@ send_user "Version [binutil_version $READELF]"
 
 # Assemble the test file.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf -h bintest (failed to assemble)"
-    unresolved "readelf -S bintest (failed to assemble)"
-    unresolved "readelf -s bintest (failed to assemble)"
-    unresolved "readelf -r bintest (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -h bintest (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -S bintest (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -s bintest (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -r bintest (failed to assemble)"
     global readelf_size
     set readelf_size ""
 } else {
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/bintest.s tmpdir/bintest.o]} then {
 
 # Test demangling symbol names.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/mangled.s tmpdir/mangled.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf -s -C bintest (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -s -C bintest (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ if {[which $AS] != 0} then {
 
 # PR 13482 - Check for off-by-one errors when dumping .note sections.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/version.s tmpdir/version.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf -n version (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -n version (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/version.s tmpdir/version.o]} then {
 # PR 18374 - Check that relocations against the .debug_loc section
 # do not prevent readelf from displaying all the location lists.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/pr18374.s tmpdir/pr18374.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=loc pr18374 (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=loc pr18374 (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/pr18374.s tmpdir/pr18374.o]} then {
 
 # locview - Check dumping of location lists with location views.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/locview-1.s tmpdir/locview-1.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=loc locview-1 (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=loc locview-1 (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/locview-1.s tmpdir/locview-1.o]} then {
     readelf_test --debug-dump=loc $tempfile readelf.locview-1  {}
 }
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/locview-2.s tmpdir/locview-2.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=loc locview-2 (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=loc locview-2 (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/locview-2.s tmpdir/locview-2.o]} then {
 
 # Check that decompressed dumps work.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/z.s tmpdir/z.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --decompress --hex-dump .debug_loc z (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf --decompress --hex-dump .debug_loc z (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
 
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ if ![istarget "riscv*-*-*"] then {
 
     # Assemble the DWARF-5 test file.
     if {![binutils_assemble_flags $srcdir/$subdir/dw5.S tmpdir/dw5.o $hpux]} then {
-	unresolved "readelf -wiaoRlL dw5 (failed to assemble)"
+	unsupported "readelf -wiaoRlL dw5 (failed to assemble)"
     } else {
 
 	# Download it.
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ if ![istarget "riscv*-*-*"] then {
 
 # Assemble the DWARF-5 attributes test file.
 if {![binutils_assemble_flags $srcdir/$subdir/dwarf-attributes.S tmpdir/dwarf-attributes.o ""]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf -wi dwarf-attributes (failed to assemble)"
+    unsupported "readelf -wi dwarf-attributes (failed to assemble)"
 } else {
     # Download it.
     if ![is_remote host] {
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble_flags $srcdir/$subdir/dwarf-attributes.S tmpdir/dwarf-at
 
 # Check that debug link sections can be dumped.
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/debuglink.s tmpdir/debuglink.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=links (failed to assemble debuglink.s)"
+    unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=links (failed to assemble debuglink.s)"
 } else {
     if ![is_remote host] {
 	set tempfile tmpdir/debuglink.o
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/debuglink.s tmpdir/debuglink.o]} then {
 
     # Check that debug link sections can be followed.
     if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/linkdebug.s tmpdir/linkdebug.debug]} then {
-	unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=follow-links (failed to assemble linkdebug.s)"
+	unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=follow-links (failed to assemble linkdebug.s)"
     } else {
 	if [is_remote host] {
 	    set tempfile2 [remote_download host tmpdir/linkdebug.debug]
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/debuglink.s tmpdir/debuglink.o]} then {
 }
 
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/dwo.s tmpdir/dwo.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --debug-dump=links (failed to assemble dwo.s)"
+    unsupported "readelf --debug-dump=links (failed to assemble dwo.s)"
 } else {
     if ![is_remote host] {
 	set tempfile tmpdir/dwo.o
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/dwo.s tmpdir/dwo.o]} then {
 }
 
 if {![binutils_assemble $srcdir/$subdir/zero-sec.s tmpdir/zero-sec.o]} then {
-    unresolved "readelf --enable-checks (failed to assemble zero-sec.s)"
+    unsupported "readelf --enable-checks (failed to assemble zero-sec.s)"
 } else {
     if ![is_remote host] {
 	set tempfile tmpdir/zero-sec.o