diff --git a/pyopencl/characterize/__init__.py b/pyopencl/characterize/__init__.py
index 26a4a688bba94c3576fc45f9e98fd8e6ef0a6e63..873e1c11c834b4c9b0dfa28837440f318b3a7b21 100644
--- a/pyopencl/characterize/__init__.py
+++ b/pyopencl/characterize/__init__.py
@@ -387,3 +387,33 @@ def has_struct_arg_count_bug(dev, ctx=None):
             return "pocl"
 
     return False
+
+
+def _may_have_svm(dev):
+    has_svm = (dev.platform._get_cl_version() >= (2, 0) and
+                cl.get_cl_header_version() >= (2, 0))
+
+    if dev.platform.name == "Portable Computing Language":
+        has_svm = (
+                get_pocl_version(dev.platform) >= (1, 0)
+                and cl.get_cl_header_version() >= (2, 0))
+
+    return has_svm
+
+
+def has_coarse_grain_buffer_svm(dev):
+    return (_may_have_svm(dev) and
+            bool(dev.svm_capabilities
+                & cl.device_svm_capabilities.COARSE_GRAIN_BUFFER))
+
+
+def has_fine_grain_buffer_svm(dev):
+    return (_may_have_svm(dev) and
+            bool(dev.svm_capabilities
+                & cl.device_svm_capabilities.FINE_GRAIN_BUFFER))
+
+
+def has_fine_grain_system_svm(dev):
+    return (_may_have_svm(dev) and
+            bool(dev.svm_capabilities
+                & cl.device_svm_capabilities.FINE_GRAIN_SYSTEM))
diff --git a/test/test_wrapper.py b/test/test_wrapper.py
index e8f5c36ba0f2b8aad0c1e5d62f4fbc10aad8ce57..bba4ca6af72f681c5e7ac4eb841a0cce3ca6026f 100644
--- a/test/test_wrapper.py
+++ b/test/test_wrapper.py
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ def test_device_topology_amd_constructor():
     assert topol.device == 4
     assert topol.function == 5
 
-    assert not topol.__dict__
+    assert not hasattr(topol, "__dict__")
 
 
 def test_nonempty_supported_image_formats(ctx_factory):
@@ -922,17 +922,10 @@ def test_coarse_grain_svm(ctx_factory):
 
     dev = ctx.devices[0]
 
-    has_svm = (ctx._get_cl_version() >= (2, 0) and
-                cl.get_cl_header_version() >= (2, 0))
-
-    if dev.platform.name == "Portable Computing Language":
-        has_svm = (
-                get_pocl_version(dev.platform) >= (1, 0)
-                and cl.get_cl_header_version() >= (2, 0))
-
-    if not has_svm:
-        from pytest import skip
-        skip("SVM only available in OpenCL 2.0 and higher")
+    from pyopencl.characterize import has_coarse_grain_buffer_svm
+    from pytest import skip
+    if not has_coarse_grain_buffer_svm(queue.device):
+        skip("device does not support coarse-grain SVM")
 
     if ("AMD" in dev.platform.name
             and dev.type & cl.device_type.CPU):
@@ -981,13 +974,9 @@ def test_fine_grain_svm(ctx_factory):
     ctx = ctx_factory()
     queue = cl.CommandQueue(ctx)
 
+    from pyopencl.characterize import has_fine_grain_buffer_svm
     from pytest import skip
-    if (ctx._get_cl_version() < (2, 0) or
-            cl.get_cl_header_version() < (2, 0)):
-        skip("SVM only available in OpenCL 2.0 and higher")
-
-    if not (ctx.devices[0].svm_capabilities
-            & cl.device_svm_capabilities.FINE_GRAIN_BUFFER):
+    if not has_fine_grain_buffer_svm(queue.device):
         skip("device does not support fine-grain SVM")
 
     n = 3000