diff --git a/Lib/test/test_gdb.py b/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
index 2a7057c..3ade185 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import unittest
+import sysconfig
 
 from test.test_support import run_unittest, findfile
 
@@ -678,6 +679,15 @@
                                     r".*\na = 1\nb = 2\nc = 3\n.*")
 
 def test_main():
+    cflags = sysconfig.get_config_vars()['PY_CFLAGS']
+    final_opt = ""
+    for opt in cflags.split():
+        if opt.startswith('-O'):
+            final_opt = opt
+    if final_opt and final_opt != '-O0':
+        raise unittest.SkipTest("Python was built with compiler optimizations, "
+                                "tests can't reliably succeed")
+
     run_unittest(PrettyPrintTests,
                  PyListTests,
                  StackNavigationTests,