diff --git a/Lib/test/test_embed.py b/Lib/test/test_embed.py
index 4b4396efb5cadb..4186f011e2388a 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_embed.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_embed.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         else:
             exepath = os.path.join(builddir, 'Programs')
         self.test_exe = exe = os.path.join(exepath, exename)
-        if not os.path.exists(exe):
+        if exepath != support.REPO_ROOT or not os.path.exists(exe):
             self.skipTest("%r doesn't exist" % exe)
         # This is needed otherwise we get a fatal error:
         # "Py_Initialize: Unable to get the locale encoding