diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.tests/pom.xml b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.tests/pom.xml
index 977ec3aa6ba..f5e06861084 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AutomatedIntegrationSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui.tests/pom.xml b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui.tests/pom.xml
index 92fe8bea18e..5ac33e1c2eb 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllMakeUITests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.tests/pom.xml b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.tests/pom.xml
index bc76988f0bc..523b8ecc1d3 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.tests/pom.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 				<configuration>
 					<!-- Yes, the  managed build core tests use the UI harness. -->
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllManagedBuildTests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.ui.tests/pom.xml b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.ui.tests/pom.xml
index 3e90eba998d..3b54dfe9d0e 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.ui.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.ui.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllManagedBuildUITests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/codan/org.eclipse.cdt.codan.core.test/pom.xml b/codan/org.eclipse.cdt.codan.core.test/pom.xml
index 45a4f924bbf..2d1e8d6de7e 100644
--- a/codan/org.eclipse.cdt.codan.core.test/pom.xml
+++ b/codan/org.eclipse.cdt.codan.core.test/pom.xml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 				<configuration>
 					<!-- Need UI harness for quick fix tests -->
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AutomatedIntegrationSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.alltests/pom.xml b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.alltests/pom.xml
index 67f68ca2c71..cacb0880e8c 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.alltests/pom.xml
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.alltests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/UPCParserTestSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/pom.xml b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/pom.xml
index 13cbeac33b2..4433c6897b0 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/pom.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
 					<!-- Core tests actually use eclipse.ui classes, see CProjectHelper -->
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AutomatedIntegrationSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/pom.xml b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/pom.xml
index fc94bc7d846..52d281c2d03 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/pom.xml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AutomatedSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/debug/org.eclipse.cdt.debug.ui.tests/pom.xml b/debug/org.eclipse.cdt.debug.ui.tests/pom.xml
index 0870319b603..a271f37537a 100644
--- a/debug/org.eclipse.cdt.debug.ui.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/debug/org.eclipse.cdt.debug.ui.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllDebugTests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.dsf.gdb.tests/pom.xml b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.dsf.gdb.tests/pom.xml
index 94da0962b8f..ff213d903ce 100644
--- a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.dsf.gdb.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.dsf.gdb.tests/pom.xml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllTests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/lrparser/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.tests/pom.xml b/lrparser/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.tests/pom.xml
index f9a4db726f2..3e30f1bb2c2 100644
--- a/lrparser/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/lrparser/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/LRParserTestSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 89468b2d169..14c428b0301 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 		<target-platform>cdt-e4.4</target-platform>
 		<help-docs-eclipserun-repo>http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/4.4</help-docs-eclipserun-repo>
 		<tycho.scmUrl>scm:git:git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/cdt/org.eclipse.cdt.git</tycho.scmUrl>
+		<base.test.vmargs>-Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -ea</base.test.vmargs>
 	</properties>
 
 	<licenses>
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@
 				</os>
 			</activation>
 			<properties>
-				<base.ui.test.vmargs>-XstartOnFirstThread</base.ui.test.vmargs>
+				<base.ui.test.vmargs>${base.test.vmargs} -XstartOnFirstThread</base.ui.test.vmargs>
 			</properties>
 		</profile>
 		<profile>
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@
 				</os>
 			</activation>
 			<properties>
-				<base.ui.test.vmargs></base.ui.test.vmargs>
+				<base.ui.test.vmargs>${base.test.vmargs}</base.ui.test.vmargs>
 			</properties>
 		</profile>
 		<profile>
diff --git a/qt/org.eclipse.cdt.qt.tests/pom.xml b/qt/org.eclipse.cdt.qt.tests/pom.xml
index 6125ce9dca0..7cf286ec79d 100644
--- a/qt/org.eclipse.cdt.qt.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/qt/org.eclipse.cdt.qt.tests/pom.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs} -ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.ui.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllQtTests.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/upc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.upc.tests/pom.xml b/upc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.upc.tests/pom.xml
index 67f68ca2c71..cacb0880e8c 100644
--- a/upc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.upc.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/upc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.upc.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/UPCParserTestSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.xlc.tests/pom.xml b/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.xlc.tests/pom.xml
index 8f237d70467..012245357b7 100644
--- a/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.xlc.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.core.lrparser.xlc.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/XlcTestSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.errorparsers.xlc.tests/pom.xml b/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.errorparsers.xlc.tests/pom.xml
index 989e92e104b..3be6b076770 100644
--- a/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.errorparsers.xlc.tests/pom.xml
+++ b/xlc/org.eclipse.cdt.errorparsers.xlc.tests/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>false</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M</argLine>
+					<argLine>${tycho.testArgLine} ${base.test.vmargs}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AllXlcErrorParserTests.*</include>
 					</includes>