diff --git a/bazel/grpc_build_system.bzl b/bazel/grpc_build_system.bzl
index 95c639c9dbc..3450b791bbd 100644
--- a/bazel/grpc_build_system.bzl
+++ b/bazel/grpc_build_system.bzl
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ load("@build_bazel_rules_apple//apple:ios.bzl", "ios_unit_test")
 # The set of pollers to test against if a test exercises polling
 POLLERS = ["epollex", "epoll1", "poll"]
 
+# set exec_properties = LARGE_MACHINE, to run the test on a large machine
+# see //third_party/toolchains/machine_size for details
+LARGE_MACHINE = { "gceMachineType" : "n1-standard-8"}
+
 def if_not_windows(a):
     return select({
         "//:windows": [],
@@ -165,7 +169,7 @@ def ios_cc_test(
             deps = ios_test_deps,
         )
 
-def grpc_cc_test(name, srcs = [], deps = [], external_deps = [], args = [], data = [], uses_polling = True, language = "C++", size = "medium", timeout = None, tags = [], exec_compatible_with = []):
+def grpc_cc_test(name, srcs = [], deps = [], external_deps = [], args = [], data = [], uses_polling = True, language = "C++", size = "medium", timeout = None, tags = [], exec_compatible_with = [], exec_properties = {}):
     copts = if_mac(["-DGRPC_CFSTREAM"])
     if language.upper() == "C":
         copts = copts + if_not_windows(["-std=c99"])
@@ -179,6 +183,7 @@ def grpc_cc_test(name, srcs = [], deps = [], external_deps = [], args = [], data
         "size": size,
         "timeout": timeout,
         "exec_compatible_with": exec_compatible_with,
+        "exec_properties": exec_properties,
     }
     if uses_polling:
         # the vanilla version of the test should run on platforms that only 
@@ -207,6 +212,7 @@ def grpc_cc_test(name, srcs = [], deps = [], external_deps = [], args = [], data
                 ] + args["args"],
                 tags = (tags + ["no_windows", "no_mac"]),
                 exec_compatible_with = exec_compatible_with,
+                exec_properties = exec_properties,
             )
     else:
         # the test behavior doesn't depend on polling, just generate the test
diff --git a/test/core/gprpp/BUILD b/test/core/gprpp/BUILD
index 017a5b9fdba..3e23d78b124 100644
--- a/test/core/gprpp/BUILD
+++ b/test/core/gprpp/BUILD
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package")
+load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package", "LARGE_MACHINE")
 
 licenses(["notice"])  # Apache v2
 
@@ -111,9 +111,9 @@ grpc_cc_test(
 grpc_cc_test(
     name = "mpscq_test",
     srcs = ["mpscq_test.cc"],
-    exec_compatible_with = ["//third_party/toolchains/machine_size:large"],
+    exec_properties = LARGE_MACHINE,
     language = "C++",
-    tags = ["no_windows"],  # machine_size:large is not configured for windows RBE
+    tags = ["no_windows"],  # LARGE_MACHINE is not configured for windows RBE
     deps = [
         "//:gpr",
         "//test/core/util:grpc_test_util",
diff --git a/test/core/iomgr/BUILD b/test/core/iomgr/BUILD
index 0025ef334bd..13327db112f 100644
--- a/test/core/iomgr/BUILD
+++ b/test/core/iomgr/BUILD
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package")
+load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package", "LARGE_MACHINE")
 
 licenses(["notice"])  # Apache v2
 
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ grpc_cc_library(
 grpc_cc_test(
     name = "combiner_test",
     srcs = ["combiner_test.cc"],
-    exec_compatible_with = ["//third_party/toolchains/machine_size:large"],
+    exec_properties = LARGE_MACHINE,
     language = "C++",
-    tags = ["no_windows"],  # machine_size:large is not configured for windows RBE
+    tags = ["no_windows"],  # LARGE_MACHINE is not configured for windows RBE
     deps = [
         "//:gpr",
         "//:grpc",
diff --git a/test/cpp/qps/BUILD b/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
index 433b0b32c75..60596c8e31d 100644
--- a/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
+++ b/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 licenses(["notice"])  # Apache v2
 
-load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package")
+load("//bazel:grpc_build_system.bzl", "grpc_cc_test", "grpc_cc_library", "grpc_cc_binary", "grpc_package", "LARGE_MACHINE")
 load("//test/cpp/qps:qps_benchmark_script.bzl", "qps_json_driver_batch", "json_run_localhost_batch")
 
 grpc_package(name = "test/cpp/qps")
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ grpc_cc_test(
 grpc_cc_test(
     name = "qps_openloop_test",
     srcs = ["qps_openloop_test.cc"],
-    exec_compatible_with = ["//third_party/toolchains/machine_size:large"],
-    tags = ["no_windows"],  # machine_size:large is not configured for windows RBE
+    exec_properties = LARGE_MACHINE,
+    tags = ["no_windows"],  # LARGE_MACHINE is not configured for windows RBE
     deps = [
         ":benchmark_config",
         ":driver_impl",