diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e51f05e3304703..b92c784417e122 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ test-debugger: all
 	$(PYTHON) tools/test.py debugger
 
 test-npm: $(NODE_EXE)
-	NODE_EXE=$(NODE_EXE) tools/test-npm.sh
+	NODE=$(NODE) tools/test-npm.sh
 
 test-npm-publish: $(NODE_EXE)
 	npm_package_config_publishtest=true $(NODE) deps/npm/test/run.js
diff --git a/tools/test-npm.sh b/tools/test-npm.sh
index 5f6c5fd0030476..25e037c3e456c6 100755
--- a/tools/test-npm.sh
+++ b/tools/test-npm.sh
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ set -e
 # always change the working directory to the project's root directory
 cd $(dirname $0)/..
 
-# pass NODE_EXE from something like Makefile
-# it should point to either {./}node or {./}node.exe, depending on the platform
-if [ -z $NODE_EXE ]; then
+# pass a $NODE environment variable from something like Makefile
+# it should point to either ./iojs or ./iojs.exe, depending on the platform
+if [ -z $NODE ]; then
   echo "No node executable provided. Bailing." >&2
   exit 0
 fi
@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@ export npm_config_prefix="npm-prefix"
 export npm_config_tmp="npm-tmp"
 
 # install npm devDependencies and run npm's tests
-../$NODE_EXE cli.js install --ignore-scripts
-../$NODE_EXE cli.js run-script test-legacy
-../$NODE_EXE cli.js run-script test
+
+../$NODE cli.js install --ignore-scripts
+../$NODE cli.js run-script test-legacy
+../$NODE cli.js run-script test
 
 # clean up everything one single shot
 cd .. && rm -rf test-npm