diff --git a/test/parallel/test-fs-read-buffer-tostring-fail.js b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-buffer-tostring-fail.js
index 3a3f77c05bb016..cce33edf4e6947 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-fs-read-buffer-tostring-fail.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-buffer-tostring-fail.js
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const common = require('../common');
+
+if (!common.enoughTestMem) {
+  const skipMessage = 'intensive toString tests due to memory confinements';
+  common.skip(skipMessage);
+  return;
+}
+
 const assert = require('assert');
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');