diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-ascii.js b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-ascii.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e982cf9eb092fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-ascii.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+'use strict';
+
+require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// v8 fails silently if string length > v8::String::kMaxLength
+// v8::String::kMaxLength defined in v8.h
+const kStringMaxLength = process.binding('buffer').kStringMaxLength;
+
+try {
+  new Buffer(kStringMaxLength * 3);
+} catch(e) {
+  assert.equal(e.message, 'Invalid array buffer length');
+  console.log(
+      '1..0 # Skipped: intensive toString tests due to memory confinements');
+  return;
+}
+
+const buf = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  buf.toString('ascii');
+}, /toString failed/);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-base64.js b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-base64.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..43a3358759e249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-base64.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+'use strict';
+
+require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// v8 fails silently if string length > v8::String::kMaxLength
+// v8::String::kMaxLength defined in v8.h
+const kStringMaxLength = process.binding('buffer').kStringMaxLength;
+
+try {
+  new Buffer(kStringMaxLength * 3);
+} catch(e) {
+  assert.equal(e.message, 'Invalid array buffer length');
+  console.log(
+      '1..0 # Skipped: intensive toString tests due to memory confinements');
+  return;
+}
+
+const buf = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  buf.toString('base64');
+}, /toString failed/);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1.js b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-binary.js
similarity index 54%
rename from test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1.js
rename to test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-binary.js
index 8e2a5bf01f2596..9d0d2c3e897057 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-binary.js
@@ -16,37 +16,16 @@ try {
   return;
 }
 
-const buf1 = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
+const buf = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
 
 assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString();
-}, /toString failed|Invalid array buffer length/);
-
-assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString('ascii');
-}, /toString failed/);
-
-assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString('utf8');
+  buf.toString('binary');
 }, /toString failed/);
 
-assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString('binary');
-}, /toString failed/);
-
-assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString('base64');
-}, /toString failed/);
-
-assert.throws(function() {
-  buf1.toString('hex');
-}, /toString failed/);
-
-var maxString = buf1.toString('binary', 1);
+var maxString = buf.toString('binary', 1);
 assert.equal(maxString.length, kStringMaxLength);
+// Free the memory early instead of at the end of the next assignment
 maxString = undefined;
 
-maxString = buf1.toString('binary', 0, kStringMaxLength);
+maxString = buf.toString('binary', 0, kStringMaxLength);
 assert.equal(maxString.length, kStringMaxLength);
-// Free the memory early instead of at the end of the next assignment
-maxString = undefined;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-hex.js b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-hex.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..2937b4aab85813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-hex.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+'use strict';
+
+require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// v8 fails silently if string length > v8::String::kMaxLength
+// v8::String::kMaxLength defined in v8.h
+const kStringMaxLength = process.binding('buffer').kStringMaxLength;
+
+try {
+  new Buffer(kStringMaxLength * 3);
+} catch(e) {
+  assert.equal(e.message, 'Invalid array buffer length');
+  console.log(
+      '1..0 # Skipped: intensive toString tests due to memory confinements');
+  return;
+}
+
+const buf = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  buf.toString('hex');
+}, /toString failed/);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-utf8.js b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-utf8.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ee297a880dacbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stringbytes-external-exceed-max-by-1-utf8.js
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+'use strict';
+
+require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// v8 fails silently if string length > v8::String::kMaxLength
+// v8::String::kMaxLength defined in v8.h
+const kStringMaxLength = process.binding('buffer').kStringMaxLength;
+
+try {
+  new Buffer(kStringMaxLength * 3);
+} catch(e) {
+  assert.equal(e.message, 'Invalid array buffer length');
+  console.log(
+      '1..0 # Skipped: intensive toString tests due to memory confinements');
+  return;
+}
+
+const buf = new Buffer(kStringMaxLength + 1);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  buf.toString();
+}, /toString failed|Invalid array buffer length/);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  buf.toString('utf8');
+}, /toString failed/);