diff --git a/tests/libtest.sh b/tests/libtest.sh
index 17831bf1..f074827c 100644
--- a/tests/libtest.sh
+++ b/tests/libtest.sh
@@ -196,6 +196,14 @@ run_sh () {
     ${CMD_PREFIX} flatpak run --command=bash ${ARGS-} org.test.Hello -c "$*"
 }
 
+skip_without_user_xattrs () {
+    touch test-xattrs
+    if ! setfattr -n user.testvalue -v somevalue test-xattrs; then
+        echo "1..0 # SKIP this test requires xattr support"
+        exit 0
+    fi
+}
+
 skip_without_bwrap () {
     if [ -z "${FLATPAK_BWRAP:-}" ]; then
         # running installed-tests: assume we know what we're doing
diff --git a/tests/test-builder.sh b/tests/test-builder.sh
index f4b19bee..0809f43d 100755
--- a/tests/test-builder.sh
+++ b/tests/test-builder.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 . $(dirname $0)/libtest.sh
 
 skip_without_bwrap
+skip_without_user_xattrs
 
 echo "1..3"
 
diff --git a/tests/test-run.sh b/tests/test-run.sh
index 4f3dc441..f9b67a67 100755
--- a/tests/test-run.sh
+++ b/tests/test-run.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 . $(dirname $0)/libtest.sh
 
 skip_without_bwrap
+skip_without_user_xattrs
 
 echo "1..7"