--- t/syntax_main.t-	2019-04-24 11:47:08.365496801 +0100
+++ t/syntax_main.t	2019-04-24 12:01:50.459442769 +0100
@@ -35,16 +35,34 @@
 
 # This code checks whether the regexp iteration limit bug (#60034) is
 # present.  The regexp match expression checks for getting the wrong
-# result with a long input, and suffices to diagnose the bug.  However,
-# running that test on a pre-5.10 perl causes the stack to grow large,
+# result with a long input, and suffices to diagnose the bug.
+# for a pattern like /X*/, where X is sub-pattern that can match variable
+# length string, e.g. (ab?), it is currently known that:
+#
+# on < 5.10.0,  the old recursive engine will crash on too long a match;
+# on < 5.29.4,  /X*/ is misinterpreted as /X{0,32767}/
+# on   5.29.4+, /X*/ is misinterpreted as /X{0,65535}/
+#
+# Running that test on a pre-5.10 perl causes the stack to grow large,
 # and if there's a limited stack size then this may overflow it and
 # cause perl to crash.  All pre-5.10 perls have the iteration limit
 # bug, so there's no need to run the proper test on those verions.
 # 5.10 fixed the stack issue, so it's safe to run the proper test there.
-my $have_iterlimit_bug = "$]" < 5.010 || do {
-	local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { };
-	("a"x40000) !~ /\A(?:X?[a-z])*\z/;
-};
+
+my $iterlimit; # if defined, sets an upper limit for iterations
+
+if ($] < 5.010) {
+    $iterlimit = 0;
+}
+else {
+    local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { };
+    for my $i (32767, 65535) {
+        if (("a"x($i+1)) !~ /\A(?:X?[a-z])*\z/) {
+            $iterlimit = $i;
+            last;
+        }
+    }
+}
 
 my $data_in = IO::File->new("t/read.data", "r") or die;
 my $line = $data_in->getline;
@@ -75,7 +93,7 @@
 	}
 	SKIP: {
 		skip "perl bug affects long inputs", 2
-			if $have_iterlimit_bug && length($input) >= 32766;
+                    if defined $iterlimit && length($input) >= $iterlimit;
 		is upgraded($input) =~ $recogniser{$prod}, !$syntax_error;
 		is downgraded($input) =~ $recogniser{$prod}, !$syntax_error;
 	}