diff --git a/Lib/test/test_signal.py b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_signal.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import struct
 import subprocess
 import traceback
 import sys, os, time, errno
-from test.script_helper import assert_python_ok
+from test.script_helper import assert_python_ok, spawn_python
 try:
     import threading
 except ImportError:
@@ -314,100 +314,76 @@ class WakeupSignalTests(unittest.TestCas
 @unittest.skipIf(sys.platform == "win32", "Not valid on Windows")
 class SiginterruptTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
-    def setUp(self):
-        """Install a no-op signal handler that can be set to allow
-        interrupts or not, and arrange for the original signal handler to be
-        re-installed when the test is finished.
-        """
-        self.signum = signal.SIGUSR1
-        oldhandler = signal.signal(self.signum, lambda x,y: None)
-        self.addCleanup(signal.signal, self.signum, oldhandler)
-
-    def readpipe_interrupted(self):
+    def readpipe_interrupted(self, interrupt):
         """Perform a read during which a signal will arrive.  Return True if the
         read is interrupted by the signal and raises an exception.  Return False
         if it returns normally.
         """
-        # Create a pipe that can be used for the read.  Also clean it up
-        # when the test is over, since nothing else will (but see below for
-        # the write end).
-        r, w = os.pipe()
-        self.addCleanup(os.close, r)
+        # use a subprocess to have only one thread, to have a timeout on the
+        # blocking read and to not touch signal handling in this process
+        code = """if 1:
+            import errno
+            import os
+            import signal
+            import sys
 
-        # Create another process which can send a signal to this one to try
-        # to interrupt the read.
-        ppid = os.getpid()
-        pid = os.fork()
+            interrupt = %r
+            r, w = os.pipe()
 
-        if pid == 0:
-            # Child code: sleep to give the parent enough time to enter the
-            # read() call (there's a race here, but it's really tricky to
-            # eliminate it); then signal the parent process.  Also, sleep
-            # again to make it likely that the signal is delivered to the
-            # parent process before the child exits.  If the child exits
-            # first, the write end of the pipe will be closed and the test
-            # is invalid.
+            def handler(signum, frame):
+                pass
+
+            signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, handler)
+            if interrupt is not None:
+                signal.siginterrupt(signal.SIGALRM, interrupt)
+
+            # run the test twice
+            for loop in range(2):
+                # send a SIGALRM in a second (during the read)
+                signal.alarm(1)
+                try:
+                    # blocking call: read from a pipe without data
+                    os.read(r, 1)
+                except OSError as err:
+                    if err.errno != errno.EINTR:
+                        raise
+                else:
+                    sys.exit(2)
+            sys.exit(3)
+        """ % (interrupt,)
+        with spawn_python('-c', code) as process:
             try:
-                time.sleep(0.2)
-                os.kill(ppid, self.signum)
-                time.sleep(0.2)
-            finally:
-                # No matter what, just exit as fast as possible now.
-                exit_subprocess()
-        else:
-            # Parent code.
-            # Make sure the child is eventually reaped, else it'll be a
-            # zombie for the rest of the test suite run.
-            self.addCleanup(os.waitpid, pid, 0)
-
-            # Close the write end of the pipe.  The child has a copy, so
-            # it's not really closed until the child exits.  We need it to
-            # close when the child exits so that in the non-interrupt case
-            # the read eventually completes, otherwise we could just close
-            # it *after* the test.
-            os.close(w)
-
-            # Try the read and report whether it is interrupted or not to
-            # the caller.
-            try:
-                d = os.read(r, 1)
+                stdout, stderr = process.communicate(timeout=3.0)
+            except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+                process.kill()
                 return False
-            except OSError as err:
-                if err.errno != errno.EINTR:
-                    raise
-                return True
+            else:
+                exitcode = process.wait()
+                if exitcode not in (2, 3):
+                    raise Exception("Child error (exit code %s): %s"
+                                    % (exitcode, stdout))
+                return (exitcode == 3)
 
     def test_without_siginterrupt(self):
         # If a signal handler is installed and siginterrupt is not called
         # at all, when that signal arrives, it interrupts a syscall that's in
         # progress.
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertTrue(i)
-        # Arrival of the signal shouldn't have changed anything.
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertTrue(i)
+        interrupted = self.readpipe_interrupted(None)
+        self.assertTrue(interrupted)
 
     def test_siginterrupt_on(self):
         # If a signal handler is installed and siginterrupt is called with
         # a true value for the second argument, when that signal arrives, it
         # interrupts a syscall that's in progress.
-        signal.siginterrupt(self.signum, 1)
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertTrue(i)
-        # Arrival of the signal shouldn't have changed anything.
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertTrue(i)
+        interrupted = self.readpipe_interrupted(True)
+        self.assertTrue(interrupted)
 
     def test_siginterrupt_off(self):
         # If a signal handler is installed and siginterrupt is called with
         # a false value for the second argument, when that signal arrives, it
         # does not interrupt a syscall that's in progress.
-        signal.siginterrupt(self.signum, 0)
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertFalse(i)
-        # Arrival of the signal shouldn't have changed anything.
-        i = self.readpipe_interrupted()
-        self.assertFalse(i)
+        interrupted = self.readpipe_interrupted(False)
+        self.assertFalse(interrupted)
 
 
 @unittest.skipIf(sys.platform == "win32", "Not valid on Windows")