diff --git a/test/parallel/test-vm-is-context.js b/test/parallel/test-vm-is-context.js
index 1c5a2244323cc3..6c3b783c5e9c33 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-vm-is-context.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-vm-is-context.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const vm = require('vm');
 
 assert.throws(function() {
   vm.isContext('string is not supported');
-}, TypeError);
+}, /^TypeError: sandbox must be an object$/);
 
 assert.strictEqual(vm.isContext({}), false);
 assert.strictEqual(vm.isContext([]), false);