diff --git a/Lib/test/test_pyexpat.py b/Lib/test/test_pyexpat.py
index b3609ac3e68bd81..ff993c3b58ce86d 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_pyexpat.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pyexpat.py
@@ -996,6 +996,9 @@ def test_parent_parser_outlives_its_subparsers__chain(self):
         del parser
         del subparser
 
+    # gh-155485: GetReparseDeferralEnabled always returns False with Expat <2.6.0.
+    @unittest.skipIf(not expat.ParserCreate().GetReparseDeferralEnabled(),
+                     "requires Python compiled with Expat >= 2.6.0")
     def test_subparser_inherits_reparse_deferral(self):
         for enabled in (True, False):
             parser = expat.ParserCreate()