diff --git a/Lib/test/test_optparse.py b/Lib/test/test_optparse.py
index cf83d750008..f656b9f3b93 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_optparse.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_optparse.py
@@ -1382,8 +1382,15 @@ options:
 
 class TestHelp(BaseTest):
     def setUp(self):
+        self.orig_columns = os.environ.get('COLUMNS')
         self.parser = self.make_parser(80)
 
+    def tearDown(self):
+        if self.orig_columns is None:
+            del os.environ['COLUMNS']
+        else:
+            os.environ['COLUMNS'] = self.orig_columns
+
     def make_parser(self, columns):
         options = [
             make_option("-a", type="string", dest='a',