diff --git a/tests/test_read_file_image.py b/tests/test_read_file_image.py
index 39b2cb03..c2dd8af0 100644
--- a/tests/test_read_file_image.py
+++ b/tests/test_read_file_image.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import base64
 import json
+import os
 import threading
 import time
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -1615,14 +1616,13 @@ def test_an_attachment_that_cannot_be_prepared_is_named_not_dropped(tmp_path: Pa
     assert "could not be prepared" in out
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(os.geteuid() == 0, reason="chmod 000 does not block root")
 def test_an_attachment_that_cannot_be_read_costs_a_note_not_the_turn(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     """Resolution only proved the path pointed at a file. Permissions can change
     between then and the read, and the file can be gone -- and this renderer runs
     deep inside turn assembly, where an ``OSError`` reaches the caller as a failed
     turn rather than as a message about one attachment.
     """
-    import os
-
     from raven.context_engine.segments import render
 
     locked = _write_image(tmp_path / "locked.png", (60, 40))