diff --git a/Doc/library/grp.rst b/Doc/library/grp.rst
index a71c308d5d3..f20a2127387 100644
--- a/Doc/library/grp.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/grp.rst
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ correspond to the members of the ``group`` structure (Attribute field below, see
 The gid is an integer, name and password are strings, and the member list is a
 list of strings. (Note that most users are not explicitly listed as members of
 the group they are in according to the password database.  Check both databases
-to get complete membership information.)
+to get complete membership information.  Also note that a ``gr_name`` that
+starts with a ``+`` or ``-`` is likely to be a YP/NIS reference and may not be
+accessible via :func:`getgrnam` or :func:`getgrgid`.)
 
 It defines the following items:
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_grp.py b/Lib/test/test_grp.py
index b4701d5fac5..e9e17582636 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_grp.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_grp.py
@@ -33,12 +33,16 @@ class GroupDatabaseTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             e2 = grp.getgrgid(e.gr_gid)
             self.check_value(e2)
             self.assertEqual(e2.gr_gid, e.gr_gid)
-            e2 = grp.getgrnam(e.gr_name)
+            name = e.gr_name
+            if name.startswith('+') or name.startswith('-'):
+                # NIS-related entry
+                continue
+            e2 = grp.getgrnam(name)
             self.check_value(e2)
             # There are instances where getgrall() returns group names in
             # lowercase while getgrgid() returns proper casing.
             # Discovered on Ubuntu 5.04 (custom).
-            self.assertEqual(e2.gr_name.lower(), e.gr_name.lower())
+            self.assertEqual(e2.gr_name.lower(), name.lower())
 
     def test_errors(self):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, grp.getgrgid)
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index 24c072c3687..83a59a07f16 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ Gerhard Häring
 Fredrik Håård
 Mihai Ibanescu
 Lars Immisch
+Bobby Impollonia
 Meador Inge
 Tony Ingraldi
 John Interrante
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b49539b7359..faef735e203 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ Extension Modules
 Tests
 -----
 
+- Issue #775964: test_grp now skips YP/NIS entries instead of failing when
+  encountering them.
+
 - Issue #7110: regrtest now sends test failure reports and single-failure
   tracebacks to stderr rather than stdout.
 
diff --git a/Modules/grpmodule.c b/Modules/grpmodule.c
index ffb451e1744..07de8807c73 100644
--- a/Modules/grpmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/grpmodule.c
@@ -158,7 +158,9 @@ Return the group database entry for the given group name.  If\n\
 name is not valid, raise KeyError."},
     {"getgrall",	grp_getgrall,	METH_NOARGS,
      "getgrall() -> list of tuples\n\
-Return a list of all available group entries, in arbitrary order."},
+Return a list of all available group entries, in arbitrary order.\n\
+An entry whose name starts with '+' or '-' represents an instruction\n\
+to use YP/NIS and may not be accessible via getgrnam or getgrgid."},
     {NULL,		NULL}		/* sentinel */
 };