diff --git a/tests/basics/builtin_eval.py b/tests/basics/builtin_eval.py
index 8b9d02e61b..9b49a2015f 100644
--- a/tests/basics/builtin_eval.py
+++ b/tests/basics/builtin_eval.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # builtin eval
 
+try:
+    eval
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 eval('1 + 2')
 eval('1 + 2\n')
 eval('1 + 2\n\n#comment\n')
diff --git a/tests/basics/builtin_eval_error.py b/tests/basics/builtin_eval_error.py
index 671eedab65..ef0a32da0f 100644
--- a/tests/basics/builtin_eval_error.py
+++ b/tests/basics/builtin_eval_error.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # test if eval raises SyntaxError
 
+try:
+    eval
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 try:
     print(eval("[1,,]"))
 except SyntaxError:
diff --git a/tests/basics/builtin_exec.py b/tests/basics/builtin_exec.py
index fd4e65c539..2e417a43a5 100644
--- a/tests/basics/builtin_exec.py
+++ b/tests/basics/builtin_exec.py
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+# test builtin exec
+
+try:
+    exec
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 print(exec("def foo(): return 42"))
 print(foo())
 
diff --git a/tests/basics/fun_calldblstar2.py b/tests/basics/fun_calldblstar2.py
index cf982ef5b8..8795eaf159 100644
--- a/tests/basics/fun_calldblstar2.py
+++ b/tests/basics/fun_calldblstar2.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # test passing a string object as the key for a keyword argument
 
+try:
+    exec
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 # they key in this dict is a string object and is not interned
 args = {'thisisaverylongargumentname': 123}
 
diff --git a/tests/basics/lexer.py b/tests/basics/lexer.py
index 244de8cb98..181d62db1a 100644
--- a/tests/basics/lexer.py
+++ b/tests/basics/lexer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # test the lexer
 
+try:
+    eval
+    exec
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 # __debug__ is a special symbol
 print(type(__debug__))
 
diff --git a/tests/basics/python34.py b/tests/basics/python34.py
index d5cc59ad6c..36531f11cf 100644
--- a/tests/basics/python34.py
+++ b/tests/basics/python34.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # tests that differ when running under Python 3.4 vs 3.5/3.6
 
+try:
+    exec
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 # from basics/fun_kwvarargs.py
 # test evaluation order of arguments (in 3.4 it's backwards, 3.5 it's fixed)
 def f4(*vargs, **kwargs):
diff --git a/tests/basics/syntaxerror.py b/tests/basics/syntaxerror.py
index 843459f0bf..8e706c6e23 100644
--- a/tests/basics/syntaxerror.py
+++ b/tests/basics/syntaxerror.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # test syntax errors
 
+try:
+    exec
+except NameError:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
 def test_syntax(code):
     try:
         exec(code)
diff --git a/tests/micropython/heapalloc_iter.py b/tests/micropython/heapalloc_iter.py
index 30ac82e14b..163e172111 100644
--- a/tests/micropython/heapalloc_iter.py
+++ b/tests/micropython/heapalloc_iter.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # test that iterating doesn't use the heap
 try:
+    frozenset
     import array
-except ImportError:
+except (NameError, ImportError):
     print("SKIP")
     raise SystemExit