diff --git a/Lib/test/test_subprocess.py b/Lib/test/test_subprocess.py
index 91257a7..483e202 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_subprocess.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_subprocess.py
@@ -30,12 +30,14 @@
     def setUp(self):
         # Try to minimize the number of children we have so this test
         # doesn't crash on some buildbots (Alphas in particular).
-        test_support.reap_children()
+        if hasattr(test_support, "reap_children"):
+            test_support.reap_children()
 
     def tearDown(self):
         # Try to minimize the number of children we have so this test
         # doesn't crash on some buildbots (Alphas in particular).
-        test_support.reap_children()
+        if hasattr(test_support, "reap_children"):
+            test_support.reap_children()
 
     def mkstemp(self):
         """wrapper for mkstemp, calling mktemp if mkstemp is not available"""
@@ -610,7 +612,8 @@
 
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(ProcessTestCase)
-    test_support.reap_children()
+    if hasattr(test_support, "reap_children"):
+        test_support.reap_children()
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     test_main()