diff --git a/test/parallel/test-cli-syntax.js b/test/parallel/test-cli-syntax.js
index 867f05256d6940..8ccc3fe01736f7 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-cli-syntax.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-cli-syntax.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 const common = require('../common');
 const assert = require('assert');
-const spawnSync = require('child_process').spawnSync;
+const {exec, spawnSync} = require('child_process');
 const path = require('path');
 
 const node = process.execPath;
@@ -29,12 +29,13 @@ const notFoundRE = /^Error: Cannot find module/m;
   // loop each possible option, `-c` or `--check`
   syntaxArgs.forEach(function(args) {
     const _args = args.concat(file);
-    const c = spawnSync(node, _args, {encoding: 'utf8'});
 
-    // no output should be produced
-    assert.strictEqual(c.stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
-    assert.strictEqual(c.stderr, '', 'stderr produced');
-    assert.strictEqual(c.status, 0, `code === ${c.status}`);
+    const cmd = [node, ..._args].join(' ');
+    exec(cmd, common.mustCall((err, stdout, stderr) => {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
+      assert.strictEqual(stderr, '', 'stderr produced');
+    }));
   });
 });
 
@@ -50,18 +51,20 @@ const notFoundRE = /^Error: Cannot find module/m;
   // loop each possible option, `-c` or `--check`
   syntaxArgs.forEach(function(args) {
     const _args = args.concat(file);
-    const c = spawnSync(node, _args, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+    const cmd = [node, ..._args].join(' ');
+    exec(cmd, common.mustCall((err, stdout, stderr) => {
+      assert.strictEqual(err instanceof Error, true);
+      assert.strictEqual(err.code, 1, `code === ${err.code}`);
 
-    // no stdout should be produced
-    assert.strictEqual(c.stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
+      // no stdout should be produced
+      assert.strictEqual(stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
 
-    // stderr should include the filename
-    assert(c.stderr.startsWith(file), "stderr doesn't start with the filename");
+      // stderr should have a syntax error message
+      assert(syntaxErrorRE.test(stderr), 'stderr incorrect');
 
-    // stderr should have a syntax error message
-    assert(syntaxErrorRE.test(c.stderr), 'stderr incorrect');
-
-    assert.strictEqual(c.status, 1, `code === ${c.status}`);
+      // stderr should include the filename
+      assert(stderr.startsWith(file), "stderr doesn't start with the filename");
+    }));
   });
 });
 
@@ -75,15 +78,16 @@ const notFoundRE = /^Error: Cannot find module/m;
   // loop each possible option, `-c` or `--check`
   syntaxArgs.forEach(function(args) {
     const _args = args.concat(file);
-    const c = spawnSync(node, _args, {encoding: 'utf8'});
-
-    // no stdout should be produced
-    assert.strictEqual(c.stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
+    const cmd = [node, ..._args].join(' ');
+    exec(cmd, common.mustCall((err, stdout, stderr) => {
+      // no stdout should be produced
+      assert.strictEqual(stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
 
-    // stderr should have a module not found error message
-    assert(notFoundRE.test(c.stderr), 'stderr incorrect');
+      // stderr should have a module not found error message
+      assert(notFoundRE.test(stderr), 'stderr incorrect');
 
-    assert.strictEqual(c.status, 1, `code === ${c.status}`);
+      assert.strictEqual(err.code, 1, `code === ${err.code}`);
+    }));
   });
 });
 
@@ -122,14 +126,15 @@ syntaxArgs.forEach(function(args) {
 ['-c', '--check'].forEach(function(checkFlag) {
   ['-e', '--eval'].forEach(function(evalFlag) {
     const args = [checkFlag, evalFlag, 'foo'];
-    const c = spawnSync(node, args, {encoding: 'utf8'});
-
-    assert(
-      c.stderr.startsWith(
-        `${node}: either --check or --eval can be used, not both`
-      )
-    );
-
-    assert.strictEqual(c.status, 9, `code === ${c.status}`);
+    const cmd = [node, ...args].join(' ');
+    exec(cmd, common.mustCall((err, stdout, stderr) => {
+      assert.strictEqual(err instanceof Error, true);
+      assert.strictEqual(err.code, 9, `code === ${err.code}`);
+      assert(
+        stderr.startsWith(
+          `${node}: either --check or --eval can be used, not both`
+        )
+      );
+    }));
   });
 });