diff --git a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
index df19f673914..46af836e91c 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
@@ -71,18 +71,18 @@ export function setup(ensureStableCode: () => string | undefined, logger: Logger
 		});
 
 		it('verifies that "hot exit" works for dirty files (without delay)', function () {
-			return testHotExit.call(this, 'test_verifies_that_hot_exit_works_for_dirty_files_without_delay', undefined);
+			return testHotExit.call(this, 'test_verifies_that_hot_exit_works_for_dirty_files_without_delay', undefined, undefined);
 		});
 
 		it('verifies that "hot exit" works for dirty files (with delay)', function () {
-			return testHotExit.call(this, 'test_verifies_that_hot_exit_works_for_dirty_files_with_delay', 2000);
+			return testHotExit.call(this, 'test_verifies_that_hot_exit_works_for_dirty_files_with_delay', 2000, undefined);
 		});
 
 		it('verifies that auto save triggers on shutdown', function () {
 			return testHotExit.call(this, 'test_verifies_that_auto_save_triggers_on_shutdown', undefined, true);
 		});
 
-		async function testHotExit(title: string, restartDelay: number | undefined, autoSave: boolean | undefined) {
+		async function testHotExit(this: import('mocha').Context, title: string, restartDelay: number | undefined, autoSave: boolean | undefined) {
 			app = createApp({
 				...this.defaultOptions,
 				logsPath: suiteLogsPath(this.defaultOptions, title),
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ export function setup(ensureStableCode: () => string | undefined, logger: Logger
 			return testHotExit.call(this, `test_verifies_that_hot_exit_works_for_dirty_files_with_delay_from_stable`, 2000);
 		});
 
-		async function testHotExit(title: string, restartDelay: number | undefined) {
+		async function testHotExit(this: import('mocha').Context, title: string, restartDelay: number | undefined) {
 			const stableCodePath = ensureStableCode();
 			if (!stableCodePath) {
 				this.skip();
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
index 5bbb4d21104..3d4912658e9 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
@@ -19,25 +19,6 @@ export function itRepeat(n: number, description: string, callback: (this: Contex
 	}
 }
 
-/**
- * Defines a test-case that will run but will be skips it if it throws an exception. This is useful
- * to get some runs in CI when trying to stabilize a flaky test, without failing the build. Note
- * that this only works if something inside the test throws, so a test's overall timeout won't work
- * but throwing due to a polling timeout will.
- * @param title The test-case title.
- * @param callback The test-case callback.
- */
-export function itSkipOnFail(title: string, callback: (this: Context) => any): void {
-	it(title, function () {
-		return Promise.resolve().then(() => {
-			return callback.apply(this, arguments);
-		}).catch(e => {
-			console.warn(`Test "${title}" failed but was marked as skip on fail:`, e);
-			this.skip();
-		});
-	});
-}
-
 export function installAllHandlers(logger: Logger, optionsTransform?: (opts: ApplicationOptions) => ApplicationOptions) {
 	installDiagnosticsHandler(logger);
 	installAppBeforeHandler(optionsTransform);
@@ -195,7 +176,7 @@ export async function retry<T>(task: ITask<Promise<T>>, delay: number, retries:
 
 			return await task();
 		} catch (error) {
-			lastError = error;
+			lastError = error as Error;
 
 			await timeout(delay);
 		}
diff --git a/test/smoke/tsconfig.json b/test/smoke/tsconfig.json
index 6f0b40e93e5..262769765a6 100644
--- a/test/smoke/tsconfig.json
+++ b/test/smoke/tsconfig.json
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
 		"noImplicitAny": false,
 		"removeComments": false,
 		"preserveConstEnums": true,
-		"target": "es2017",
-		"strictNullChecks": true,
+		"target": "es2020",
+		"strict": true,
 		"noUnusedParameters": false,
 		"noUnusedLocals": true,
 		"outDir": "out",
 		"sourceMap": true,
 		"lib": [
-			"es2016",
+			"es2020",
 			"dom"
 		]
 	},