diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/support.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/support.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/support.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -7,6 +7,17 @@
 from distutils import log
 from distutils.log import DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL
 from distutils.core import Distribution
+from distutils.spawn import find_executable as _find_executable
+
+def find_executable(executable, path=None):
+    '''
+    A wrapper around `distutils.spawn.find_executable` to make sure it returns
+    None when `os.environ['PATH']` is undefined.
+    '''
+    if path or 'PATH' in os.environ:
+        return _find_executable(executable, path)
+    else:
+        return None
 
 class LoggingSilencer(object):
 
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@
 from distutils.archive_util import (check_archive_formats, make_tarball,
                                     make_zipfile, make_archive,
                                     ARCHIVE_FORMATS)
-from distutils.spawn import find_executable, spawn
+from distutils.spawn import spawn
 from distutils.tests import support
+from distutils.tests.support import find_executable
 from test.support import check_warnings, run_unittest, patch
 
 try:
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.command.bdist import bdist
 from distutils.tests import support
-from distutils.spawn import find_executable
 from distutils import spawn
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsExecError
 
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_rpm.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_rpm.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_rpm.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.command.bdist_rpm import bdist_rpm
 from distutils.tests import support
-from distutils.spawn import find_executable
+from distutils.tests.support import find_executable
 from distutils import spawn
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsExecError
 
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_clib.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_clib.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_clib.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from distutils.command.build_clib import build_clib
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsSetupError
 from distutils.tests import support
-from distutils.spawn import find_executable
+from distutils.tests.support import find_executable
 
 class BuildCLibTestCase(support.TempdirManager,
                         support.LoggingSilencer,
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@
                 name, equals, value = runshared.partition('=')
                 cmd.library_dirs = value.split(os.pathsep)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless('PATH' in os.environ,
+                         'PATH needs to be defined to find the compiler')
     def test_build_ext(self):
         global ALREADY_TESTED
         xx_c = os.path.join(self.tmp_dir, 'xxmodule.c')
@@ -320,6 +322,8 @@
         cmd.run()
         self.assertEqual(cmd.compiler, 'unix')
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless('PATH' in os.environ,
+                         'PATH needs to be defined to find the compiler')
     def test_get_outputs(self):
         tmp_dir = self.mkdtemp()
         c_file = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'foo.c')
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.tests.test_config import PyPIRCCommandTestCase
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsExecError, DistutilsOptionError
-from distutils.spawn import find_executable
+from distutils.tests.support import find_executable
 from distutils.tests import support
 from distutils.log import WARN
 from distutils.archive_util import ARCHIVE_FORMATS
@@ -127,14 +127,12 @@
         # making sure everything has been pruned correctly
         self.assertEqual(len(content), 4)
 
-    @unittest.skipUnless(ZLIB_SUPPORT, 'Need zlib support to run')
+    @unittest.skipUnless(ZLIB_SUPPORT and
+                         find_executable('tar') and
+                         find_executable('gzip'),
+                         'Need zlib, tar, & gzip support to run')
     def test_make_distribution(self):
 
-        # check if tar and gzip are installed
-        if (find_executable('tar') is None or
-            find_executable('gzip') is None):
-            return
-
         # now building a sdist
         dist, cmd = self.get_cmd()
 
diff -r 39fadb0255cd Lib/distutils/tests/test_spawn.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_spawn.py	Mon Jun 27 18:25:06 2011 -0500
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_spawn.py	Mon Jun 27 19:50:18 2011 -0700
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from test.support import captured_stdout, run_unittest
 
 from distutils.spawn import _nt_quote_args
-from distutils.spawn import spawn, find_executable
+from distutils.spawn import spawn
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsExecError
 from distutils.tests import support