diff --git a/core/modules/simpletest/src/BrowserTestBase.php b/core/modules/simpletest/src/BrowserTestBase.php
index ed64f0833d0..a2bf771e0ae 100644
--- a/core/modules/simpletest/src/BrowserTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/simpletest/src/BrowserTestBase.php
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ abstract class BrowserTestBase extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
     // coverage against.
     $base_url = getenv('SIMPLETEST_BASE_URL');
     if (!$base_url) {
-      $this->markTestSkipped(
+      throw new \Exception(
         'You must provide a SIMPLETEST_BASE_URL environment variable to run some PHPUnit based functional tests.'
       );
     }
diff --git a/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/KernelTestBase.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/KernelTestBase.php
index a0ed6a67d2e..8d629ba079a 100644
--- a/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/KernelTestBase.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/KernelTestBase.php
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ abstract class KernelTestBase extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase implements Ser
     // If the test is run with argument dburl then use it.
     $db_url = getenv('SIMPLETEST_DB');
     if (empty($db_url)) {
-      $this->markTestSkipped('There is no database connection so no tests can be run. You must provide a SIMPLETEST_DB environment variable to run PHPUnit based functional tests outside of run-tests.sh. See https://www.drupal.org/node/2116263#skipped-tests for more information.');
+      throw new \Exception('There is no database connection so no tests can be run. You must provide a SIMPLETEST_DB environment variable to run PHPUnit based functional tests outside of run-tests.sh. See https://www.drupal.org/node/2116263#skipped-tests for more information.');
     }
     else {
       $database = Database::convertDbUrlToConnectionInfo($db_url, $this->root);