diff --git a/syntax_checkers/efm_perl.pl b/syntax_checkers/efm_perl.pl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..570d6e76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syntax_checkers/efm_perl.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl -w
+
+# vimparse.pl - Reformats the error messages of the Perl interpreter for use
+# with the quickfix mode of Vim
+#
+# Copyright (©) 2001 by Jörg Ziefle <joerg.ziefle@gmx.de>
+# You may use and distribute this software under the same terms as Perl itself.
+#
+# Usage: put one of the two configurations below in your ~/.vimrc (without the
+# description and '# ') and enjoy (be sure to adjust the paths to vimparse.pl
+# before):
+#
+# Program is run interactively with 'perl -w':
+#
+# set makeprg=$HOME/bin/vimparse.pl\ %\ $*
+# set errorformat=%f:%l:%m
+#
+# Program is only compiled with 'perl -wc':
+#
+# set makeprg=$HOME/bin/vimparse.pl\ -c\ %\ $*
+# set errorformat=%f:%l:%m
+#
+# Usage:
+#	vimparse.pl [-c] [-f <errorfile>] <programfile> [programargs]
+#
+#		-c	compile only, don't run (perl -wc)
+#		-f	write errors to <errorfile>
+#
+# Example usages:
+#	* From the command line:
+#		vimparse.pl program.pl
+#
+#		vimparse.pl -c -f errorfile program.pl
+#		Then run vim -q errorfile to edit the errors with Vim.
+#
+#	* From Vim:
+#		Edit in Vim (and save, if you don't have autowrite on), then
+#		type ':mak' or ':mak args' (args being the program arguments)
+#		to error check.
+#
+# Version history:
+#	0.2 (04/12/2001):
+#		* First public version (sent to Bram)
+#		* -c command line option for compiling only
+#		* grammatical fix: 'There was 1 error.'
+#		* bug fix for multiple arguments
+#		* more error checks
+#		* documentation (top of file, &usage)
+#		* minor code clean ups
+#	0.1 (02/02/2001):
+#		* Initial version
+#		* Basic functionality
+#
+# Todo:
+#	* test on more systems
+#	* use portable way to determine the location of perl ('use Config')
+#	* include option that shows perldiag messages for each error
+#	* allow to pass in program by STDIN
+#	* more intuitive behaviour if no error is found (show message)
+#
+# Tested under SunOS 5.7 with Perl 5.6.0.  Let me know if it's not working for
+# you.
+
+use strict;
+use Getopt::Std;
+
+use vars qw/$opt_c $opt_f $opt_h/; # needed for Getopt in combination with use strict 'vars'
+
+use constant VERSION => 0.2;
+
+getopts('cf:h');
+
+&usage if $opt_h; # not necessarily needed, but good for further extension
+
+if (defined $opt_f) {
+
+    open FILE, "> $opt_f" or do {
+	warn "Couldn't open $opt_f: $!.  Using STDOUT instead.\n";
+	undef $opt_f;
+    };
+
+};
+
+my $handle = (defined $opt_f ? \*FILE : \*STDOUT);
+
+(my $file = shift) or &usage; # display usage if no filename is supplied
+my $args = (@ARGV ? ' ' . join ' ', @ARGV : '');
+
+my @lines = `perl @{[defined $opt_c ? '-c ' : '' ]} -w "$file$args" 2>&1`;
+
+my $errors = 0;
+foreach my $line (@lines) {
+
+    chomp($line);
+    my ($file, $lineno, $message, $rest);
+
+    if ($line =~ /^(.*)\sat\s(.*)\sline\s(\d+)(\.|,\snear\s\".*\")$/) {
+
+	($message, $file, $lineno, $rest) = ($1, $2, $3, $4);
+	$errors++;
+	$message .= $rest if ($rest =~ s/^,//);
+	print $handle "$file:$lineno:$message\n";
+
+    } else { next };
+
+}
+
+if (defined $opt_f) {
+
+    my $msg;
+    if ($errors == 1) {
+
+	$msg = "There was 1 error.\n";
+
+    } else {
+
+	$msg = "There were $errors errors.\n";
+
+    };
+
+    print STDOUT $msg;
+    close FILE;
+    unlink $opt_f unless $errors;
+
+};
+
+sub usage {
+
+    (local $0 = $0) =~ s/^.*\/([^\/]+)$/$1/; # remove path from name of program
+    print<<EOT;
+Usage:
+	$0 [-c] [-f <errorfile>] <programfile> [programargs]
+
+		-c	compile only, don't run (executes 'perl -wc')
+		-f	write errors to <errorfile>
+
+Examples:
+	* At the command line:
+		$0 program.pl
+		Displays output on STDOUT.
+
+		$0 -c -f errorfile program.pl
+		Then run 'vim -q errorfile' to edit the errors with Vim.
+
+	* In Vim:
+		Edit in Vim (and save, if you don't have autowrite on), then
+		type ':mak' or ':mak args' (args being the program arguments)
+		to error check.
+EOT
+
+    exit 0;
+
+};
diff --git a/syntax_checkers/perl.vim b/syntax_checkers/perl.vim
index 3845d7a4..9c1d3857 100644
--- a/syntax_checkers/perl.vim
+++ b/syntax_checkers/perl.vim
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@
 "             See http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING for more details.
 "
 "============================================================================
-
-" This checker requires efm_perl.pl, which is distributed with Vim version
-" seven and greater, as far as I know.
-
 if exists("loaded_perl_syntax_checker")
     finish
 endif
@@ -23,13 +19,10 @@ if !executable("perl")
     finish
 endif
 
-
-if !exists("g:syntastic_perl_efm_program")
-    let g:syntastic_perl_efm_program = 'perl '. shellescape($VIMRUNTIME.'/tools/efm_perl.pl').' -c'
-endif
+let s:checker = expand('<sfile>:p:h') . '/efm_perl.pl'
 
 function! SyntaxCheckers_perl_GetLocList()
-    let makeprg = g:syntastic_perl_efm_program . ' ' . shellescape(expand('%'))
+    let makeprg = s:checker . ' ' . shellescape(expand('%'))
     let errorformat =  '%f:%l:%m'
 
     return SyntasticMake({ 'makeprg': makeprg, 'errorformat': errorformat })