diff --git a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
index dc98b4bc6d..664a3a4e4e 100755
--- a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
@@ -1253,7 +1253,10 @@ run_with_limited_open_files () {
 	(ulimit -n 32 && "$@")
 }
 
-test_lazy_prereq ULIMIT_FILE_DESCRIPTORS 'run_with_limited_open_files true'
+test_lazy_prereq ULIMIT_FILE_DESCRIPTORS '
+	test_have_prereq !MINGW,!CYGWIN &&
+	run_with_limited_open_files true
+'
 
 test_expect_success ULIMIT_FILE_DESCRIPTORS 'large transaction creating branches does not burst open file limit' '
 (
diff --git a/t/t6120-describe.sh b/t/t6120-describe.sh
index dd6dd9df9b..3d45dc2955 100755
--- a/t/t6120-describe.sh
+++ b/t/t6120-describe.sh
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ test_expect_success 'describe ignoring a borken submodule' '
 	grep broken out
 '
 
-# we require ulimit, this excludes Windows
 test_expect_failure ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE 'name-rev works in a deep repo' '
 	i=1 &&
 	while test $i -lt 8000
diff --git a/t/t7004-tag.sh b/t/t7004-tag.sh
index 5bf5ace56b..b545c33f83 100755
--- a/t/t7004-tag.sh
+++ b/t/t7004-tag.sh
@@ -1863,7 +1863,6 @@ test_expect_success 'version sort with very long prerelease suffix' '
 	git tag -l --sort=version:refname
 '
 
-# we require ulimit, this excludes Windows
 test_expect_success ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE '--contains and --no-contains work in a deep repo' '
 	>expect &&
 	i=1 &&
diff --git a/t/t9010-svn-fe.sh b/t/t9010-svn-fe.sh
index 6dafe7e99a..8eaaca6f99 100755
--- a/t/t9010-svn-fe.sh
+++ b/t/t9010-svn-fe.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ test_description='check svn dumpfile importer'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+if test_have_prereq !PIPE
+then
+	skip_all="svn dumpfile importer testing requires the PIPE prerequisite"
+	test_done
+fi
+
 reinit_git () {
-	if ! test_declared_prereq PIPE
-	then
-		echo >&4 "reinit_git: need to declare PIPE prerequisite"
-		return 127
-	fi
 	rm -fr .git &&
 	rm -f stream backflow &&
 	git init &&
@@ -54,19 +55,19 @@ text_no_props () {
 
 >empty
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'empty dump' '
+test_expect_success 'empty dump' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	echo "SVN-fs-dump-format-version: 2" >input &&
 	try_dump input
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'v4 dumps not supported' '
+test_expect_success 'v4 dumps not supported' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	echo "SVN-fs-dump-format-version: 4" >v4.dump &&
 	try_dump v4.dump must_fail
 '
 
-test_expect_failure PIPE 'empty revision' '
+test_expect_failure 'empty revision' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	printf "rev <nobody, nobody@local>: %s\n" "" "" >expect &&
 	cat >emptyrev.dump <<-\EOF &&
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ test_expect_failure PIPE 'empty revision' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'empty properties' '
+test_expect_success 'empty properties' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	printf "rev <nobody, nobody@local>: %s\n" "" "" >expect &&
 	cat >emptyprop.dump <<-\EOF &&
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'empty properties' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'author name and commit message' '
+test_expect_success 'author name and commit message' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	echo "<author@example.com, author@example.com@local>" >expect.author &&
 	cat >message <<-\EOF &&
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'author name and commit message' '
 	test_cmp expect.author actual.author
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'unsupported properties are ignored' '
+test_expect_success 'unsupported properties are ignored' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	echo author >expect &&
 	cat >extraprop.dump <<-\EOF &&
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'unsupported properties are ignored' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_failure PIPE 'timestamp and empty file' '
+test_expect_failure 'timestamp and empty file' '
 	echo author@example.com >expect.author &&
 	echo 1999-01-01 >expect.date &&
 	echo file >expect.files &&
@@ -210,7 +211,7 @@ test_expect_failure PIPE 'timestamp and empty file' '
 	test_cmp empty file
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'directory with files' '
+test_expect_success 'directory with files' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	printf "%s\n" directory/file1 directory/file2 >expect.files &&
 	echo hi >hi &&
@@ -263,7 +264,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'directory with files' '
 	test_cmp hi directory/file2
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'branch name with backslash' '
+test_expect_success 'branch name with backslash' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	sort <<-\EOF >expect.branch-files &&
 	trunk/file1
@@ -362,7 +363,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'branch name with backslash' '
 	test_cmp expect.branch-files actual.branch-files
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'node without action' '
+test_expect_success 'node without action' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >inaction.dump <<-\EOF &&
 	SVN-fs-dump-format-version: 3
@@ -383,7 +384,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'node without action' '
 	try_dump inaction.dump must_fail
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'action: add node without text' '
+test_expect_success 'action: add node without text' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >textless.dump <<-\EOF &&
 	SVN-fs-dump-format-version: 3
@@ -405,7 +406,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'action: add node without text' '
 	try_dump textless.dump must_fail
 '
 
-test_expect_failure PIPE 'change file mode but keep old content' '
+test_expect_failure 'change file mode but keep old content' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	OBJID
@@ -481,7 +482,7 @@ test_expect_failure PIPE 'change file mode but keep old content' '
 	test_cmp hello actual.target
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'NUL in property value' '
+test_expect_success 'NUL in property value' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	echo "commit message" >expect.message &&
 	{
@@ -507,7 +508,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'NUL in property value' '
 	test_cmp expect.message actual.message
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'NUL in log message, file content, and property name' '
+test_expect_success 'NUL in log message, file content, and property name' '
 	# Caveat: svnadmin 1.6.16 (r1073529) truncates at \0 in the
 	# svn:specialQnotreally example.
 	reinit_git &&
@@ -587,7 +588,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'NUL in log message, file content, and property name' '
 	test_cmp expect.hello2 actual.hello2
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'change file mode and reiterate content' '
+test_expect_success 'change file mode and reiterate content' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	OBJID
@@ -667,7 +668,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'change file mode and reiterate content' '
 	test_cmp hello actual.target
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas supported' '
+test_expect_success 'deltas supported' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	{
 		# (old) h + (inline) ello + (old) \n
@@ -731,7 +732,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas supported' '
 	try_dump delta.dump
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'property deltas supported' '
+test_expect_success 'property deltas supported' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	OBJID
@@ -796,7 +797,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'property deltas supported' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'properties on /' '
+test_expect_success 'properties on /' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat <<-\EOF >expect &&
 	OBJID
@@ -850,7 +851,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'properties on /' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas for typechange' '
+test_expect_success 'deltas for typechange' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	OBJID
@@ -935,7 +936,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas for typechange' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas need not consume the whole preimage' '
+test_expect_success 'deltas need not consume the whole preimage' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	OBJID
@@ -1040,7 +1041,7 @@ test_expect_success PIPE 'deltas need not consume the whole preimage' '
 	test_cmp expect.3 actual.3
 '
 
-test_expect_success PIPE 'no hang for delta trying to read past end of preimage' '
+test_expect_success 'no hang for delta trying to read past end of preimage' '
 	reinit_git &&
 	{
 		# COPY 1
@@ -1087,7 +1088,7 @@ test_expect_success 'set up svn repo' '
 	fi
 '
 
-test_expect_success SVNREPO,PIPE 't9135/svn.dump' '
+test_expect_success SVNREPO 't9135/svn.dump' '
 	mkdir -p simple-git &&
 	(
 		cd simple-git &&
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 83f5d3dd21..9b61f16f7a 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -1067,14 +1067,8 @@ test_i18ngrep () {
 
 test_lazy_prereq PIPE '
 	# test whether the filesystem supports FIFOs
-	case $(uname -s) in
-	CYGWIN*|MINGW*)
-		false
-		;;
-	*)
-		rm -f testfifo && mkfifo testfifo
-		;;
-	esac
+	test_have_prereq !MINGW,!CYGWIN &&
+	rm -f testfifo && mkfifo testfifo
 '
 
 test_lazy_prereq SYMLINKS '
@@ -1170,13 +1164,19 @@ run_with_limited_cmdline () {
 	(ulimit -s 128 && "$@")
 }
 
-test_lazy_prereq CMDLINE_LIMIT 'run_with_limited_cmdline true'
+test_lazy_prereq CMDLINE_LIMIT '
+	test_have_prereq !MINGW,!CYGWIN &&
+	run_with_limited_cmdline true
+'
 
 run_with_limited_stack () {
 	(ulimit -s 128 && "$@")
 }
 
-test_lazy_prereq ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE 'run_with_limited_stack true'
+test_lazy_prereq ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE '
+	test_have_prereq !MINGW,!CYGWIN &&
+	run_with_limited_stack true
+'
 
 build_option () {
 	git version --build-options |