diff --git a/Lib/test/test__xxsubinterpreters.py b/Lib/test/test__xxsubinterpreters.py
index 1ee18774d17209..e8a386c0e6fb94 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test__xxsubinterpreters.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test__xxsubinterpreters.py
@@ -7,14 +7,13 @@
 import threading
 import unittest
 
-import _testcapi
 from test import support
 from test.support import import_helper
 from test.support import script_helper
 
 
 interpreters = import_helper.import_module('_xxsubinterpreters')
-
+_testcapi = import_helper.import_module('_testcapi')
 
 ##################################
 # helpers