diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/database/ModelTest.php b/tests/unit/plugins/database/ModelTest.php
index 4742b73b6..16bf07c1d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/database/ModelTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/database/ModelTest.php
@@ -23,12 +23,11 @@ class ModelTest extends PluginTestCase
         $this->assertEquals(1, $post->id);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * @expectedException        \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\MassAssignmentException
-     * @expectedExceptionMessage title
-     */
     public function testGuardedAttribute()
     {
+        $this->expectException(\Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\MassAssignmentException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessageMatches('/title/');
+
         Post::create(['title' => 'Hi!', 'slug' => 'authenticity']);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/database/SimpleTreeModelTest.php b/tests/unit/plugins/database/SimpleTreeModelTest.php
index 31389dc0b..c22b11d16 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/database/SimpleTreeModelTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/database/SimpleTreeModelTest.php
@@ -165,12 +165,11 @@ class SimpleTreeModelTest extends PluginTestCase
         ], $array);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * @expectedException        \Exception
-     * @expectedExceptionMessage Column mismatch in listsNested method
-     */
     public function testListsNestedUnknownColumn()
     {
+        $this->expectException(\Exception::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Column mismatch in listsNested method');
+
         CategorySimple::listsNested('custom_name', 'id');
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/database/ValidationModelTest.php b/tests/unit/plugins/database/ValidationModelTest.php
index 4eba6d02c..f5ddb55b7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/database/ValidationModelTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/database/ValidationModelTest.php
@@ -13,11 +13,10 @@ class ValidationModelTest extends PluginTestCase
         $this->runPluginRefreshCommand('Database.Tester');
     }
 
-    /**
-     * @expectedException October\Rain\Database\ModelException
-     */
     public function testUniqueTableValidation()
     {
+        $this->expectException(\October\Rain\Database\ModelException::class);
+
         $post = ValidationPost::create([
             'title' => 'This is a new post',
             'slug' => 'post-1',