diff --git a/Lib/test/test_signal.py b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
index 64c9cdaa01e..bd435113d54 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_signal.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
@@ -361,6 +361,8 @@ class ItimerTest(unittest.TestCase):
         signal.setitimer(self.itimer, 0.3, 0.2)
 
         for i in xrange(100000000):
+            # use up some virtual time by doing real work
+            _ = pow(12345, 67890, 10000019)
             if signal.getitimer(self.itimer) == (0.0, 0.0):
                 break # sig_vtalrm handler stopped this itimer
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 1400664e9ce..8d7021f18af 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ Library
 - Issue #7039: Fixed distutils.tests.test_sysconfig when running on
   installation with no build.
 
+Tests
+-----
+
+- Issue #7042: Fix test_signal (test_itimer_virtual) failure on OS X 10.6.
+
 
 What's New in Python 2.6.3
 ==========================