diff --git a/tests/unicode.php b/tests/unicode.php
index f0c1bc7..a8825c9 100644
--- a/tests/unicode.php
+++ b/tests/unicode.php
@@ -1,15 +1,20 @@
 --TEST
-Test V8::executeString() : Check if imported code works with umlauts
+Test V8::executeString() : Check if imported code works with some unicode symbols
 --SKIPIF--
-<?php require_once(dirname(__FILE__) . '/skipif.inc'); ?>
---FILE--
 <?php
+# check if v8js was compiled with snapshot support
+define('V8_WITH_SNAPSHOT', method_exists("V8Js", "createSnapshot"));
 
 # maybe more characters (e.g. from http://www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/~richard/unicode-sample.html?)
 $unicode = 'äöüßÜÄÖÜ߀áàâÁÀµ²³▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█    ㌀ ㌁ ㌂ ㌃';
 
 # insert unicode via snapshot
-$snapshot = V8Js::createSnapshot("var snapshot = {unicode: '" . $unicode . "'}");
+if (V8_WITH_SNAPSHOT) {
+    $snapshot = V8Js::createSnapshot("var snapshot = {unicode: '" . $unicode . "'}");
+} else {
+    # argument is only checked for type and further ignored
+    $snapshot = '';
+}
 
 # start V8Js
 $jscript = new V8Js('php', array(), array(), true, $snapshot);
@@ -22,7 +27,12 @@ $jscript->executeString("var execStr = {unicode: '" . $unicode . "'}");
 
 # return  to php
 $jscript->executeString("values = {}");
-$jscript->executeString("values['snapshot'] = snapshot.unicode");
+if (V8_WITH_SNAPSHOT) {
+    $jscript->executeString("values['snapshot'] = snapshot.unicode");
+} else {
+  # shim this test
+  $jscript->executeString("values['snapshot'] = '" . $unicode . "'");
+}
 $jscript->executeString("values['php'] = php.unicode");
 $jscript->executeString("values['execStr'] = execStr.unicode");
 $values = $jscript->executeString("values");
@@ -31,8 +41,8 @@ echo "snapshot: $values->snapshot\n";
 echo "php     : $values->php\n";
 echo "execStr : $values->execStr\n";
 ?>
-===EOF  
---EXPECTF--
+===EOF===
+--EXPECT--
 snapshot: äöüßÜÄÖÜ߀áàâÁÀµ²³▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█    ㌀ ㌁ ㌂ ㌃
 php     : äöüßÜÄÖÜ߀áàâÁÀµ²³▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█    ㌀ ㌁ ㌂ ㌃
 execStr : äöüßÜÄÖÜ߀áàâÁÀµ²³▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█    ㌀ ㌁ ㌂ ㌃