diff -r 96a9992d1003 Lib/test/support/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Tue Dec 13 16:32:21 2016 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Tue Dec 13 17:05:58 2016 +0100
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
     "setswitchinterval", "android_not_root",
     # network
     "HOST", "IPV6_ENABLED", "find_unused_port", "bind_port", "open_urlresource",
+    "bind_unix_socket",
     # processes
     'temp_umask', "reap_children",
     # logging
@@ -708,6 +709,15 @@
     port = sock.getsockname()[1]
     return port
 
+def bind_unix_socket(sock, addr):
+    """Bind a unix socket, raising SkipTest if PermissionError is raised."""
+    assert sock.family == socket.AF_UNIX
+    try:
+        sock.bind(addr)
+    except PermissionError:
+        sock.close()
+        raise unittest.SkipTest('cannot bind AF_UNIX sockets')
+
 def _is_ipv6_enabled():
     """Check whether IPv6 is enabled on this host."""
     if socket.has_ipv6:
diff -r 96a9992d1003 Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py	Tue Dec 13 16:32:21 2016 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py	Tue Dec 13 17:05:58 2016 +0100
@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@
     if HAS_UNIX_SOCKETS and sock.family == socket.AF_UNIX:
         # Make sure the path doesn't exist.
         support.unlink(addr)
-    sock.bind(addr)
+        support.bind_unix_socket(sock, addr)
+    else:
+        sock.bind(addr)
 
 
 class HelperFunctionTests(unittest.TestCase):
diff -r 96a9992d1003 Lib/test/test_pathlib.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_pathlib.py	Tue Dec 13 16:32:21 2016 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pathlib.py	Tue Dec 13 17:05:58 2016 +0100
@@ -1888,7 +1888,8 @@
         try:
             sock.bind(str(P))
         except OSError as e:
-            if "AF_UNIX path too long" in str(e):
+            if (isinstance(e, PermissionError) or
+                    "AF_UNIX path too long" in str(e)):
                 self.skipTest("cannot bind Unix socket: " + str(e))
         self.assertTrue(P.is_socket())
         self.assertFalse(P.is_fifo())
diff -r 96a9992d1003 Lib/test/test_socket.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_socket.py	Tue Dec 13 16:32:21 2016 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socket.py	Tue Dec 13 17:05:58 2016 +0100
@@ -278,8 +278,14 @@
 
     def clientRun(self, test_func):
         self.server_ready.wait()
-        self.clientSetUp()
-        self.client_ready.set()
+        try:
+            self.clientSetUp()
+        except BaseException as e:
+            self.queue.put(e)
+            self.clientTearDown()
+            return
+        finally:
+            self.client_ready.set()
         if self.server_crashed:
             self.clientTearDown()
             return
@@ -520,8 +526,11 @@
         self.serv_conn = self.cli
 
     def clientTearDown(self):
-        self.serv_conn.close()
-        self.serv_conn = None
+        try:
+            self.serv_conn.close()
+            self.serv_conn = None
+        except AttributeError:
+            pass
         super().clientTearDown()
 
 
@@ -540,7 +549,7 @@
 
     def bindSock(self, sock):
         path = tempfile.mktemp(dir=self.dir_path)
-        sock.bind(path)
+        support.bind_unix_socket(sock, path)
         self.addCleanup(support.unlink, path)
 
 class UnixStreamBase(UnixSocketTestBase):
@@ -4649,7 +4658,7 @@
     def bind(self, sock, path):
         # Bind the socket
         try:
-            sock.bind(path)
+            support.bind_unix_socket(sock, path)
         except OSError as e:
             if str(e) == "AF_UNIX path too long":
                 self.skipTest(