diff --git a/test/debugger/test-debug-break-on-uncaught.js b/test/debugger/test-debug-break-on-uncaught.js
index dc380fa0193fb1..cfe72bb67b4f02 100644
--- a/test/debugger/test-debug-break-on-uncaught.js
+++ b/test/debugger/test-debug-break-on-uncaught.js
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ function runScenario(scriptName, throwsOnLine, next) {
     client.connect(port);
   }
 
+  let interval;
   function runTest(client) {
     client.req(
       {
@@ -91,19 +92,22 @@ function runScenario(scriptName, throwsOnLine, next) {
 
         client.reqContinue(function(error) {
           assert.ifError(error);
-          setTimeout(assertHasPaused.bind(null, client), 100);
+          interval = setInterval(assertHasPaused.bind(null, client), 10);
         });
       }
     );
   }
 
   function assertHasPaused(client) {
-    assert(exceptions.length, 'no exceptions thrown, race condition in test?');
-    assert.equal(exceptions.length, 1, 'debugger did not pause on exception');
-    assert.equal(exceptions[0].uncaught, true);
-    assert.equal(exceptions[0].script.name, testScript);
-    assert.equal(exceptions[0].sourceLine + 1, throwsOnLine);
+    if (!exceptions.length) return;
+
+    assert.strictEqual(exceptions.length, 1,
+                       'debugger did not pause on exception');
+    assert.strictEqual(exceptions[0].uncaught, true);
+    assert.strictEqual(exceptions[0].script.name, testScript);
+    assert.strictEqual(exceptions[0].sourceLine + 1, throwsOnLine);
     asserted = true;
     client.reqContinue(assert.ifError);
+    clearInterval(interval);
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/debugger/test-debugger-client.js b/test/debugger/test-debugger-client.js
index 04823113ec32c1..869dabc6ef0c43 100644
--- a/test/debugger/test-debugger-client.js
+++ b/test/debugger/test-debugger-client.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ setTimeout(function() {
 
 var resCount = 0;
 var p = new debug.Protocol();
-p.onResponse = function(res) {
+p.onResponse = function() {
   resCount++;
 };
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ function addTest(cb) {
 addTest(function(client, done) {
   console.error('requesting version');
   client.reqVersion(function(err, v) {
-    assert.ok(!err);
+    assert.ifError(err);
     console.log('version: %s', v);
     assert.strictEqual(process.versions.v8, v);
     done();
@@ -99,13 +99,13 @@ addTest(function(client, done) {
 addTest(function(client, done) {
   console.error('requesting scripts');
   client.reqScripts(function(err) {
-    assert.ok(!err);
+    assert.ifError(err);
     console.error('got %d scripts', Object.keys(client.scripts).length);
 
     var foundMainScript = false;
     for (var k in client.scripts) {
       var script = client.scripts[k];
-      if (script && script.name === 'node.js') {
+      if (script && script.name === 'bootstrap_node.js') {
         foundMainScript = true;
         break;
       }
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ addTest(function(client, done) {
   console.error('eval 2+2');
   client.reqEval('2+2', function(err, res) {
     console.error(res);
-    assert.ok(!err);
+    assert.ifError(err);
     assert.strictEqual(res.text, '4');
     assert.strictEqual(res.value, 4);
     done();
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ function doTest(cb, done) {
   var args = ['--debug=' + debugPort, '-e', script];
   nodeProcess = spawn(process.execPath, args);
 
-  nodeProcess.stdout.once('data', function(c) {
+  nodeProcess.stdout.once('data', function() {
     console.log('>>> new node process: %d', nodeProcess.pid);
     var failed = true;
     try {
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ function doTest(cb, done) {
     console.error('got stderr data %j', data);
     nodeProcess.stderr.resume();
     b += data;
-    if (didTryConnect === false && b.match(/Debugger listening on port/)) {
+    if (didTryConnect === false && b.match(/Debugger listening on /)) {
       didTryConnect = true;
 
       // The timeout is here to expose a race in the bootstrap process.
@@ -168,10 +168,10 @@ function doTest(cb, done) {
 
       function tryConnect() {
         // Wait for some data before trying to connect
-        var c = new debug.Client();
+        const c = new debug.Client();
         console.error('>>> connecting...');
         c.connect(debug.port);
-        c.on('break', function(brk) {
+        c.on('break', function() {
           c.reqContinue(function() {});
         });
         c.on('ready', function() {
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ function doTest(cb, done) {
 
 
 function run() {
-  var t = tests[0];
+  const t = tests[0];
   if (!t) return;
 
   doTest(t, function() {
diff --git a/test/debugger/test-debugger-remote.js b/test/debugger/test-debugger-remote.js
index f5232dce9c8df4..fb79fb83ee733f 100644
--- a/test/debugger/test-debugger-remote.js
+++ b/test/debugger/test-debugger-remote.js
@@ -1,25 +1,31 @@
 'use strict';
-var common = require('../common');
-var assert = require('assert');
-var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
+const path = require('path');
 
-var buffer = '';
-var scriptToDebug = common.fixturesDir + '/empty.js';
-
-function fail() {
-  assert(0); // `--debug-brk script.js` should not quit
-}
+const PORT = common.PORT;
+const scriptToDebug = path.join(common.fixturesDir, 'empty.js');
 
 // running with debug agent
-var child = spawn(process.execPath, ['--debug-brk=5959', scriptToDebug]);
-
-console.error(process.execPath, '--debug-brk=5959', scriptToDebug);
+const child = spawn(process.execPath, [`--debug-brk=${PORT}`, scriptToDebug]);
 
 // connect to debug agent
-var interfacer = spawn(process.execPath, ['debug', 'localhost:5959']);
-
-console.error(process.execPath, 'debug', 'localhost:5959');
+const interfacer = spawn(process.execPath, ['debug', `localhost:${PORT}`]);
 interfacer.stdout.setEncoding('utf-8');
+
+// fail the test if either of the processes exit normally
+const debugBreakExit = common.fail.bind(null, 'child should not exit normally');
+const debugExit = common.fail.bind(null, 'interfacer should not exit normally');
+child.on('exit', debugBreakExit);
+interfacer.on('exit', debugExit);
+
+let buffer = '';
+const expected = [
+  `\bconnecting to localhost:${PORT} ... ok`,
+  '\bbreak in test/fixtures/empty.js:2'
+];
+const actual = [];
 interfacer.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
   data = (buffer + data).split('\n');
   buffer = data.pop();
@@ -30,22 +36,26 @@ interfacer.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
 
 interfacer.on('line', function(line) {
   line = line.replace(/^(debug> *)+/, '');
-  console.log(line);
-  var expected = '\bconnecting to localhost:5959 ... ok';
-  assert.ok(expected == line, 'Got unexpected line: ' + line);
+  if (expected.includes(line)) {
+    actual.push(line);
+  }
 });
 
 // allow time to start up the debugger
 setTimeout(function() {
-  child.removeListener('exit', fail);
+  // remove the exit handlers before killing the processes
+  child.removeListener('exit', debugBreakExit);
+  interfacer.removeListener('exit', debugExit);
+
   child.kill();
-  interfacer.removeListener('exit', fail);
   interfacer.kill();
-}, 2000);
+}, common.platformTimeout(2000));
 
 process.on('exit', function() {
+  // additional checks to ensure that both the processes were actually killed
   assert(child.killed);
   assert(interfacer.killed);
+  assert.deepStrictEqual(actual, expected);
 });
 
 interfacer.stderr.pipe(process.stderr);
diff --git a/test/debugger/test-debugger-repl.js b/test/debugger/test-debugger-repl.js
index 8a87d40d163af7..ab0468448bef4d 100644
--- a/test/debugger/test-debugger-repl.js
+++ b/test/debugger/test-debugger-repl.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 'use strict';
-require('../common');
+var common = require('../common');
 var repl = require('./helper-debugger-repl.js');
 
 repl.startDebugger('breakpoints.js');
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ addTest('c', [
 
 // Execute
 addTest('exec process.title', [
-  /node/
+  common.isFreeBSD || common.isOSX || common.isLinux ? /node/ : ''
 ]);
 
 // Execute