diff --git a/Lib/test/test_strftime.py b/Lib/test/test_strftime.py
index fd024b9..47f35f5 100755
--- a/Lib/test/test_strftime.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_strftime.py
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@
 
 def main():
     global verbose
+    # For C Python, these tests expect C locale, so we try to set that
+    # explicitly.  For Jython, Finn says we need to be in the US locale; my
+    # understanding is that this is the closest Java gets to C's "C" locale.
+    # Jython ought to supply an _locale module which Does The Right Thing, but
+    # this is the best we can do given today's state of affairs.
+    try:
+        import java
+        java.util.Locale.setDefault(java.util.Locale.US)
+    except ImportError:
+        # Can't do this first because it will succeed, even in Jython
+        import locale
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, 'C')
     now = time.time()
     strftest(now)
     verbose = 0