diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sysconfig.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sysconfig.py
index 7f0bce63c9f..4636c0c127d 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sysconfig.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sysconfig.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """Tests for distutils.dist."""
 
 from distutils import sysconfig
+from distutils.ccompiler import get_default_compiler
+
 import os
 import unittest
 
@@ -41,6 +43,10 @@ class SysconfigTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_customize_compiler(self):
 
+        # not testing if default compiler is not unix
+        if get_default_compiler() != 'unix':
+            return
+
         os.environ['AR'] = 'xxx'
 
         # make sure AR gets caught