diff --git a/benchmark/tls/secure-pair.js b/benchmark/tls/secure-pair.js
index 76658fc3c42ad7..08be1f7e46f8ba 100644
--- a/benchmark/tls/secure-pair.js
+++ b/benchmark/tls/secure-pair.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ function main({ dur, size, securing }) {
     isServer: true,
     requestCert: true,
     rejectUnauthorized: true,
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   const server = net.createServer(onRedirectConnection);
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ function main({ dur, size, securing }) {
         cert: options.cert,
         isServer: false,
         rejectUnauthorized: false,
+        maxVersion: options.maxVersion,
       };
       const network = securing === 'clear' ? net : tls;
       const conn = network.connect(clientOptions, () => {
diff --git a/benchmark/tls/throughput-c2s.js b/benchmark/tls/throughput-c2s.js
index f3a96abcbc0174..023b42cbeda685 100644
--- a/benchmark/tls/throughput-c2s.js
+++ b/benchmark/tls/throughput-c2s.js
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ function main({ dur, type, size }) {
     key: fixtures.readKey('rsa_private.pem'),
     cert: fixtures.readKey('rsa_cert.crt'),
     ca: fixtures.readKey('rsa_ca.crt'),
-    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384'
+    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384',
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   const server = tls.createServer(options, onConnection);
diff --git a/benchmark/tls/throughput-s2c.js b/benchmark/tls/throughput-s2c.js
index a505a719d30884..d3018cf851db75 100644
--- a/benchmark/tls/throughput-s2c.js
+++ b/benchmark/tls/throughput-s2c.js
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ function main({ dur, type, sendchunklen, recvbuflen, recvbufgenfn }) {
     key: fixtures.readKey('rsa_private.pem'),
     cert: fixtures.readKey('rsa_cert.crt'),
     ca: fixtures.readKey('rsa_ca.crt'),
-    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384'
+    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384',
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   let socketOpts;
diff --git a/benchmark/tls/tls-connect.js b/benchmark/tls/tls-connect.js
index 3fc2ecb614978b..db50306485aec3 100644
--- a/benchmark/tls/tls-connect.js
+++ b/benchmark/tls/tls-connect.js
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ function main(conf) {
     key: fixtures.readKey('rsa_private.pem'),
     cert: fixtures.readKey('rsa_cert.crt'),
     ca: fixtures.readKey('rsa_ca.crt'),
-    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384'
+    ciphers: 'AES256-GCM-SHA384',
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   const server = tls.createServer(options, onConnection);
diff --git a/lib/internal/tls/secure-context.js b/lib/internal/tls/secure-context.js
index 152627b420a612..a9bf4a1da71eca 100644
--- a/lib/internal/tls/secure-context.js
+++ b/lib/internal/tls/secure-context.js
@@ -225,15 +225,10 @@ function configSecureContext(context, options = kEmptyObject, name = 'options')
     cipherSuites,
   } = processCiphers(ciphers, `${name}.ciphers`);
 
-  context.setCipherSuites(cipherSuites);
+  if (cipherSuites !== '')
+    context.setCipherSuites(cipherSuites);
   context.setCiphers(cipherList);
 
-  if (cipherSuites === '' &&
-      context.getMaxProto() > TLS1_2_VERSION &&
-      context.getMinProto() < TLS1_3_VERSION) {
-    context.setMaxProto(TLS1_2_VERSION);
-  }
-
   if (cipherList === '' &&
       context.getMinProto() < TLS1_3_VERSION &&
       context.getMaxProto() > TLS1_2_VERSION) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-client-getephemeralkeyinfo.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-client-getephemeralkeyinfo.js
index 82f41cfe7e06bd..8abb319b828868 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-client-getephemeralkeyinfo.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-client-getephemeralkeyinfo.js
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ function test(size, type, name, cipher) {
   const options = {
     key: key,
     cert: cert,
-    ciphers: cipher
+    ciphers: cipher,
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   if (name) options.ecdhCurve = name;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-client-mindhsize.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-client-mindhsize.js
index 1ccf49fa9292eb..92ac995936825d 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-client-mindhsize.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-client-mindhsize.js
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ function test(size, err, next) {
     const client = tls.connect({
       minDHSize: 2048,
       port: this.address().port,
-      rejectUnauthorized: false
+      rejectUnauthorized: false,
+      maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
     }, function() {
       nsuccess++;
       server.close();
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-dhe.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-dhe.js
index ef645ce1b6c624..0d531a3d6f0179 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-dhe.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-dhe.js
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ function test(keylen, expectedCipher, cb) {
     key: key,
     cert: cert,
     ciphers: ciphers,
-    dhparam: loadDHParam(keylen)
+    dhparam: loadDHParam(keylen),
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   };
 
   const server = tls.createServer(options, function(conn) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-getcipher.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-getcipher.js
index 744276aa59bf37..2a234d59016c1c 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-getcipher.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-getcipher.js
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', common.mustCall(function() {
     host: '127.0.0.1',
     port: this.address().port,
     ciphers: 'AES128-SHA256',
-    rejectUnauthorized: false
+    rejectUnauthorized: false,
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   }, common.mustCall(function() {
     const cipher = this.getCipher();
     assert.strictEqual(cipher.name, 'AES128-SHA256');
@@ -62,7 +63,8 @@ server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', common.mustCall(function() {
     host: '127.0.0.1',
     port: this.address().port,
     ciphers: 'ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256',
-    rejectUnauthorized: false
+    rejectUnauthorized: false,
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
   }, common.mustCall(function() {
     const cipher = this.getCipher();
     assert.strictEqual(cipher.name, 'ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-key.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-key.js
index b9eaa05d59feb6..22a80d9d377727 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-key.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-key.js
@@ -154,11 +154,12 @@ function test(options) {
       rejectUnauthorized: true,
       ca: clientTrustRoots,
       checkServerIdentity: (_, c) => assert.strictEqual(c.subject.CN, eccCN),
+      maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2'
     }, common.mustCall(function() {
       assert.deepStrictEqual(ecdsa.getCipher(), {
         name: 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384',
         standardName: 'TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384',
-        version: 'TLSv1.2'
+        version: 'TLSv1.2',
       });
       assert.strictEqual(ecdsa.getPeerCertificate().subject.CN, eccCN);
       assert.strictEqual(ecdsa.getPeerCertificate().asn1Curve, 'prime256v1');
@@ -173,11 +174,12 @@ function test(options) {
       rejectUnauthorized: true,
       ca: clientTrustRoots,
       checkServerIdentity: (_, c) => assert.strictEqual(c.subject.CN, rsaCN),
+      maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
     }, common.mustCall(function() {
       assert.deepStrictEqual(rsa.getCipher(), {
         name: 'ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384',
         standardName: 'TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384',
-        version: 'TLSv1.2'
+        version: 'TLSv1.2',
       });
       assert.strictEqual(rsa.getPeerCertificate().subject.CN, rsaCN);
       assert(rsa.getPeerCertificate().exponent, 'cert for an RSA key');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-pfx.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-pfx.js
index f353183ce2fa0c..80bd0d37281f13 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-pfx.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-multi-pfx.js
@@ -24,12 +24,14 @@ const server = tls.createServer(options, function(conn) {
 }).listen(0, function() {
   const ecdsa = tls.connect(this.address().port, {
     ciphers: 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384',
-    rejectUnauthorized: false
+    maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
+    rejectUnauthorized: false,
   }, common.mustCall(function() {
     ciphers.push(ecdsa.getCipher());
     const rsa = tls.connect(server.address().port, {
       ciphers: 'ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384',
-      rejectUnauthorized: false
+      maxVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
+      rejectUnauthorized: false,
     }, common.mustCall(function() {
       ciphers.push(rsa.getCipher());
       ecdsa.end();
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-set-ciphers.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-set-ciphers.js
index f08af9b089adb9..6511836accf8b5 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-set-ciphers.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-set-ciphers.js
@@ -13,19 +13,31 @@ const {
 } = require(fixtures.path('tls-connect'));
 
 
-function test(cciphers, sciphers, cipher, cerr, serr) {
+function test(cciphers, sciphers, cipher, cerr, serr, options) {
   assert(cipher || cerr || serr, 'test missing any expectations');
   const where = inspect(new Error()).split('\n')[2].replace(/[^(]*/, '');
+
+  const max_tls_ver = (ciphers, options) => {
+    if (options instanceof Object && options.hasOwnProperty('maxVersion'))
+      return options.maxVersion;
+    if ((typeof ciphers === 'string' || ciphers instanceof String) && ciphers.length > 0 && !ciphers.includes('TLS_'))
+      return 'TLSv1.2';
+
+    return 'TLSv1.3';
+  };
+
   connect({
     client: {
       checkServerIdentity: (servername, cert) => { },
       ca: `${keys.agent1.cert}\n${keys.agent6.ca}`,
       ciphers: cciphers,
+      maxVersion: max_tls_ver(cciphers, options),
     },
     server: {
       cert: keys.agent6.cert,
       key: keys.agent6.key,
       ciphers: sciphers,
+      maxVersion: max_tls_ver(sciphers, options),
     },
   }, common.mustCall((err, pair, cleanup) => {
     function u(_) { return _ === undefined ? 'U' : _; }
@@ -87,6 +99,13 @@ test('AES128-SHA:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384',
 test('AES256-SHA:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384', U, 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384');
 test(U, 'AES256-SHA:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384', 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384');
 
+// Cipher order ignored, TLS1.3 before TLS1.2 and
+// cipher suites are not disabled if TLS ciphers are set only
+// TODO: maybe these tests should be reworked so maxVersion clamping
+// is done explicitly and not implicitly in the test() function
+test('AES256-SHA', U, 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384', U, U, {maxVersion: 'TLSv1.3'});
+test(U, 'AES256-SHA', 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384', U, U, {maxVersion: 'TLSv1.3'});
+
 // TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256 & TLS_AES_128_CCM_SHA256 are not enabled by
 // default, but work.
 test('TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256', U,
@@ -108,3 +127,4 @@ test('', 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384', 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384');
 // Using null should be treated the same as undefined.
 test(null, 'AES256-SHA', 'AES256-SHA');
 test('AES256-SHA', null, 'AES256-SHA');
+