diff --git a/Lib/test/test_signal.py b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
index 5fc4220d1fa..4e06a34ca4d 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 range(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 cb65654cd5b..0420a82bd98 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ Extension Modules
 
 - Issue #6848: Fix curses module build failure on OS X 10.6.
 
+Tests
+-----
+
+- Issue #7042: Fix test_signal (test_itimer_virtual) failure on OS X 10.6.
+
 Build
 -----