diff --git a/test/unit/runnable.spec.js b/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
index f87ab1a727..333b5dc333 100644
--- a/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ describe('Runnable(title, fn)', function () {
     it('should set disabled', function () {
       var run = new Runnable();
       run.timeout(1e10);
-      expect(run.enableTimeouts()).to.be(false);
+      expect(run.enableTimeouts()).to.equal(false);
     });
   });
 
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ describe('Runnable(title, fn)', function () {
           });
 
           test.run(function (err) {
-            expect(err).to.eql(expectedErr);
+            expect(err.message).to.equal(expectedErr.message);
             done();
           });
         });
diff --git a/test/unit/runner.spec.js b/test/unit/runner.spec.js
index 36ae0ee222..f32383d31a 100644
--- a/test/unit/runner.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/runner.spec.js
@@ -80,6 +80,12 @@ describe('Runner', function () {
   });
 
   describe('.checkGlobals(test)', function () {
+    before(function () {
+      if (!Object.create) {
+        this.skip();
+      }
+    });
+
     it('should allow variables that match a wildcard', function (done) {
       runner.globals(['foo*', 'giz*']);
       global.foo = 'baz';
@@ -292,6 +298,11 @@ describe('Runner', function () {
     });
 
     it('should recover if the error stack is not writable', function (done) {
+      if (!Object.create) {
+        this.skip();
+        return;
+      }
+
       var err = new Error('not evil');
       Object.defineProperty(err, 'stack', {
         value: err.stack
diff --git a/test/unit/utils.spec.js b/test/unit/utils.spec.js
index fe4849238e..ad64fd847c 100644
--- a/test/unit/utils.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/utils.spec.js
@@ -510,6 +510,11 @@ describe('lib/utils', function () {
   describe('map()', function () {
     var map = utils.map;
     it('should behave same as Array.prototype.map', function () {
+      if (!Array.prototype.map) {
+        this.skip();
+        return;
+      }
+
       var arr = [
         1,
         2,