diff --git a/test/parallel/test-external-memory-reasonable-size.js b/test/parallel/test-external-memory-reasonable-size.js
index f9ff1af8e5a1..2d79eec892c1 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-external-memory-reasonable-size.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-external-memory-reasonable-size.js
@@ -1,34 +1,19 @@
 'use strict';
 
-// V8 aborts the process when external memory grows by more than
-// --external-memory-max-reasonable-size gigabytes in a single step. Node
-// disables that check by default, but an explicit value on the command line
-// must still be honored.
+// Node.js disables V8's external memory reasonable size check by default, but
+// explicit values on the command line must still be honored.
 // Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/65534
 
-const common = require('../common');
-const assert = require('assert');
-const { execSync } = require('child_process');
-const { totalmem } = require('os');
+require('../common');
+const { spawnSyncAndAssert } = require('../common/child_process');
 
-// The smallest limit V8 accepts is 1 GB, so the child has to allocate more
-// than that before the check can fire.
-if (totalmem() < 4 * 1024 ** 3)
-  common.skip('not enough memory to exceed a 1 GB external memory limit');
-
-for (const flag of [
-  '--external-memory-max-reasonable-size=1',
-  '--external_memory_max_reasonable_size=1',
+// Despite the "default" label, --v8-options prints the parsed flag values.
+for (const [flags, expected] of [
+  [[], 0],
+  [['--external-memory-max-reasonable-size=1'], 1],
+  [['--external_memory_max_reasonable_size=1'], 1],
 ]) {
-  // The child aborts with over a gigabyte resident, so keep it from writing a
-  // core file; on some hosts that dump alone outlasts the test timeout.
-  const [cmd, opts] = common.escapePOSIXShell`"${process.execPath}" ${flag} -e "new Float64Array(150_000_000)"`;
-  assert.throws(
-    () => execSync(common.isWindows ? cmd : `ulimit -c 0; ${cmd}`, { ...opts, stdio: 'pipe' }),
-    (err) => {
-      assert.notStrictEqual(err.status, 0, `${flag} was not honored, the child exited cleanly`);
-      assert.match(err.stderr.toString(), /kMaxReasonableBytes/);
-      return true;
-    },
-  );
+  spawnSyncAndAssert(process.execPath, [...flags, '--v8-options'], {
+    stdout: new RegExp(`default: --external-memory-max-reasonable-size=${expected}$`, 'm'),
+  });
 }