diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xml_dom_minicompat.py b/Lib/test/test_xml_dom_minicompat.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..085e52aea39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xml_dom_minicompat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+# Tests for xml.dom.minicompat
+
+import pickle
+import unittest
+
+import xml.dom
+from xml.dom.minicompat import *
+
+
+class EmptyNodeListTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Tests for the EmptyNodeList class."""
+
+    def test_emptynodelist_item(self):
+        # Test item access on an EmptyNodeList.
+        node_list = EmptyNodeList()
+
+        self.assertIsNone(node_list.item(0))
+        self.assertIsNone(node_list.item(-1)) # invalid item
+
+        with self.assertRaises(IndexError):
+            node_list[0]
+        with self.assertRaises(IndexError):
+            node_list[-1]
+
+    def test_emptynodelist_length(self):
+        node_list = EmptyNodeList()
+        # Reading
+        self.assertEqual(node_list.length, 0)
+        # Writing
+        with self.assertRaises(xml.dom.NoModificationAllowedErr):
+            node_list.length = 111
+
+    def test_emptynodelist___add__(self):
+        node_list = EmptyNodeList() + NodeList()
+        self.assertEqual(node_list, NodeList())
+
+    def test_emptynodelist___radd__(self):
+        node_list = [1,2] + EmptyNodeList()
+        self.assertEqual(node_list, [1,2])
+
+
+class NodeListTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Tests for the NodeList class."""
+
+    def test_nodelist_item(self):
+        # Test items access on a NodeList.
+        # First, use an empty NodeList.
+        node_list = NodeList()
+
+        self.assertIsNone(node_list.item(0))
+        self.assertIsNone(node_list.item(-1))
+
+        with self.assertRaises(IndexError):
+            node_list[0]
+        with self.assertRaises(IndexError):
+            node_list[-1]
+
+        # Now, use a NodeList with items.
+        node_list.append(111)
+        node_list.append(999)
+
+        self.assertEqual(node_list.item(0), 111)
+        self.assertIsNone(node_list.item(-1)) # invalid item
+
+        self.assertEqual(node_list[0], 111)
+        self.assertEqual(node_list[-1], 999)
+
+    def test_nodelist_length(self):
+        node_list = NodeList([1, 2])
+        # Reading
+        self.assertEqual(node_list.length, 2)
+        # Writing
+        with self.assertRaises(xml.dom.NoModificationAllowedErr):
+            node_list.length = 111
+
+    def test_nodelist___add__(self):
+        node_list = NodeList([3, 4]) + [1, 2]
+        self.assertEqual(node_list, NodeList([3, 4, 1, 2]))
+
+    def test_nodelist___radd__(self):
+        node_list = [1, 2] + NodeList([3, 4])
+        self.assertEqual(node_list, NodeList([1, 2, 3, 4]))
+
+    def test_nodelist_pickle_roundtrip(self):
+        # Test pickling and unpickling of a NodeList.
+
+        # Empty NodeList.
+        node_list = NodeList()
+        pickled = pickle.dumps(node_list)
+        unpickled = pickle.loads(pickled)
+        self.assertEqual(unpickled, node_list)
+
+        # Non-empty NodeList.
+        node_list.append(1)
+        node_list.append(2)
+        pickled = pickle.dumps(node_list)
+        unpickled = pickle.loads(pickled)
+        self.assertEqual(unpickled, node_list)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/Lib/test/xmltests.py b/Lib/test/xmltests.py
index 0bfcba181e8..bf685a466d7 100644
--- a/Lib/test/xmltests.py
+++ b/Lib/test/xmltests.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ def runtest(name):
 runtest("test.test_minidom")
 runtest("test.test_pyexpat")
 runtest("test.test_sax")
+runtest("test.test_xml_dom_minicompat")
 runtest("test.test_xml_etree")
 runtest("test.test_xml_etree_c")
 runtest("test.test_xmlrpc")
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index f5269061a56..4f253e3bac5 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ Paul Colomiets
 Christophe Combelles
 Geremy Condra
 Denver Coneybeare
+Phil Connell
 Juan José Conti
 Matt Conway
 David M. Cooke
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 744c7151811..826ad858609 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ IDLE
 
 - Issue #6649: Fixed missing exit status in IDLE. Patch by Guilherme Polo.
 
+Tests
+-----
+
+- Issue #12820: add tests for the xml.dom.minicompat module.
+  Patch by John Chandler and Phil Connell.
+
 Documentation
 -------------