diff --git a/babel.config.js b/babel.config.js
index 1a8b02970890..ff08dbe3543f 100644
--- a/babel.config.js
+++ b/babel.config.js
@@ -183,6 +183,20 @@ function bool(value) {
   return value && value !== "false" && value !== "0";
 }
 
+// A minimum semver GTE implementation
+// Limitation:
+// - it only supports comparing major and minor version, assuming Node.js will never ship
+//   features in patch release so we will never need to compare a version with "1.2.3"
+//
+// @example
+// semverGte("8.10", "8.9") // true
+// semverGte("8.9", "8.9") // true
+// semverGte("9.0", "8.9") // true
+// semverGte("8.9", "8.10") // false
+// TODO: figure out how to inject it to the `@babel/template` usage so we don't need to
+// copy and paste it.
+// `((v,w)=>(v=v.split("."),w=w.split("."),+v[0]>+w[0]||v[0]==w[0]&&+v[1]>=+w[1]))`;
+
 // TODO(Babel 8) This polyfills are only needed for Node.js 6 and 8
 /** @param {import("@babel/core")} api */
 function pluginPolyfillsOldNode({ template, types: t }) {
@@ -207,7 +221,7 @@ function pluginPolyfillsOldNode({ template, types: t }) {
       // require.resolve's paths option has been introduced in Node.js 8.9
       // https://nodejs.org/api/modules.html#modules_require_resolve_request_options
       replacement: template({ syntacticPlaceholders: true })`
-        parseFloat(process.versions.node) >= 8.9
+        ((v,w)=>(v=v.split("."),w=w.split("."),+v[0]>+w[0]||v[0]==w[0]&&+v[1]>=+w[1]))(process.versions.node, "8.9")
           ? require.resolve
           : (/* request */ r, { paths: [/* base */ b] }, M = require("module")) => {
               let /* filename */ f = M._findPath(r, M._nodeModulePaths(b).concat(b));
@@ -239,7 +253,7 @@ function pluginPolyfillsOldNode({ template, types: t }) {
       // fs.mkdirSync's recursive option has been introduced in Node.js 10.12
       // https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_mkdirsync_path_options
       replacement: template`
-        parseFloat(process.versions.node) >= 10.12
+        ((v,w)=>(v=v.split("."),w=w.split("."),+v[0]>+w[0]||v[0]==w[0]&&+v[1]>=+w[1]))(process.versions.node, "10.12")
           ? fs.mkdirSync
           : require("make-dir").sync
       `,
diff --git a/packages/babel-core/test/resolution.js b/packages/babel-core/test/resolution.js
index aa0db96736f8..3fc2c3a2bcad 100644
--- a/packages/babel-core/test/resolution.js
+++ b/packages/babel-core/test/resolution.js
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
     });
   });
 
+  // TODO(Babel 8): remove node version check.
   it("should throw about module: usage for presets", function () {
     process.chdir("throw-module-paths");
 
@@ -344,7 +345,13 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         presets: ["foo"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'.*\n- If you want to resolve "foo", use "module:foo"/,
+      // Todo(Babel 8): remove node checks in this file. We cannot test the desired behaviour
+      // because Jest 24 has an issue on setting the MODULE_NOT_FOUND error when the native
+      // `require.resolve` is provided.
+      // see https://github.com/babel/babel/pull/12439/files#r535996000
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'.*\n- If you want to resolve "foo", use "module:foo"/,
     );
   });
 
@@ -358,7 +365,9 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         plugins: ["foo"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'.*\n- If you want to resolve "foo", use "module:foo"/,
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'.*\n- If you want to resolve "foo", use "module:foo"/,
     );
   });
 
@@ -372,7 +381,9 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         presets: ["foo"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'.*\n- Did you mean "@babel\/foo"\?/,
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-foo'.*\n- Did you mean "@babel\/foo"\?/,
     );
   });
 
@@ -386,7 +397,9 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         plugins: ["foo"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'.*\n- Did you mean "@babel\/foo"\?/,
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-foo'.*\n- Did you mean "@babel\/foo"\?/,
     );
   });
 
@@ -400,7 +413,9 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         presets: ["testplugin"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-testplugin'.*\n- Did you accidentally pass a plugin as a preset\?/,
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-testplugin'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-preset-testplugin'.*\n- Did you accidentally pass a plugin as a preset\?/,
     );
   });
 
@@ -414,7 +429,9 @@ describe("addon resolution", function () {
         plugins: ["testpreset"],
       });
     }).toThrow(
-      /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-testpreset'.*\n- Did you accidentally pass a preset as a plugin\?/,
+      process.versions.node.startsWith("8.")
+        ? /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-testpreset'/
+        : /Cannot resolve module 'babel-plugin-testpreset'.*\n- Did you accidentally pass a preset as a plugin\?/,
     );
   });