diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@
 #endif
 #endif
 
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+#include <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h>
+#include <ApplicationServices/ApplicationServices.h>
+#endif
+
 #ifdef HAVE_DLFCN_H
 #include <dlfcn.h>
 #endif
@@ -10215,6 +10220,118 @@
     return NULL;
 }
 
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+PyDoc_STRVAR(macosx_startfile__doc__,
+"startfile(filepath [, operation]) - Start a file with its associated\n\
+application.\n\
+"
+);
+
+static PyObject *
+macosx_startfile(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    PyObject* retval = NULL;
+    path_t path;
+    char *operation = NULL;
+    LSLaunchURLSpec launch_spec = { NULL, NULL, NULL, kLSLaunchDefaults, NULL };
+    CFURLRef itemURL = NULL;
+    OSStatus r;
+
+    memset(&path, 0, sizeof(path));
+
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O&|s:startfile",
+                          path_converter, &path, &operation)) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    itemURL = CFURLCreateFromFileSystemRepresentation(
+		    kCFAllocatorDefault,
+		    (const UInt8 *)path.narrow, strlen(path.narrow),
+		    false);
+    if (itemURL == NULL) {
+            PyErr_NoMemory();
+	    goto done;
+    }
+
+    launch_spec.itemURLs = CFArrayCreate(
+		    kCFAllocatorDefault,
+		    (const void**)&itemURL, 1, 
+		    &kCFTypeArrayCallBacks);
+    if (launch_spec.itemURLs == NULL) {
+            PyErr_NoMemory();
+	    goto done;
+    }
+
+    if (operation) {
+	    if (strcmp(operation, "open") == 0) {
+		    /* pass */
+
+	    } else if (strcmp(operation, "edit") == 0) {
+		    r = LSGetApplicationForURL(itemURL, kLSRolesEditor, NULL, &launch_spec.appURL);
+		    if (r) {
+			    PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError, "LSApplicationForURL failed with code %d", (int)r);
+			    goto done;
+	            }
+#if 0
+		    /* activate this code to show the file URL, application that will be used to open the file
+		     * and the list of applications that claim the "editor" role.
+		     */
+		    CFShow(itemURL);
+		    CFShow(launch_spec.appURL);
+		    CFShow(LSCopyApplicationURLsForURL(itemURL, kLSRolesEditor));
+#endif
+
+	    } else if (strcmp(operation, "execute") == 0) {
+		    r = LSGetApplicationForURL(itemURL, kLSRolesShell, NULL, &launch_spec.appURL);
+		    if (r) {
+			    PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError, "LSApplicationForURL failed with code %d", (int)r);
+			    goto done;
+	            }
+	    } else if (strcmp(operation, "print") == 0) {
+		    launch_spec.launchFlags = kLSLaunchAndPrint;
+
+	    } else if (strcmp(operation, "explore") == 0) {
+#define FINDER_PATH "/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app"
+		    launch_spec.appURL = CFURLCreateFromFileSystemRepresentation(
+				    kCFAllocatorDefault,
+				    (const UInt8 *)FINDER_PATH, sizeof(FINDER_PATH)-1, true);
+#undef FINDER_PATH
+		    if (launch_spec.appURL == 0) {
+			    PyErr_NoMemory();
+			    goto done;
+		    }
+
+            } else {
+		    PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "Unsupported value for 'operation'");
+		    goto done;
+            }
+    }
+
+    r = LSOpenFromURLSpec(&launch_spec, NULL);
+    if (r) {
+	    PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError, "LSOpenFromURLSpec failed with code %d", (int)r);
+	    goto done;
+    }
+
+    retval = Py_None;
+    Py_INCREF(retval);
+
+
+done:
+    if (itemURL) {
+	    CFRelease(itemURL);
+    }
+    if (launch_spec.itemURLs) {
+	    CFRelease(launch_spec.itemURLs);
+    }
+    if (launch_spec.appURL) {
+	    CFRelease(launch_spec.appURL);
+    }
+    path_cleanup(&path);
+    return retval;
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef MS_WINDOWS
 PyDoc_STRVAR(win32_startfile__doc__,
 "startfile(filepath [, operation]) - Start a file with its associated\n\
@@ -11067,6 +11184,9 @@
 #ifdef HAVE_PLOCK
     {"plock",           posix_plock, METH_VARARGS, posix_plock__doc__},
 #endif /* HAVE_PLOCK */
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+    {"startfile",       macosx_startfile, METH_VARARGS, macosx_startfile__doc__},
+#endif
 #ifdef MS_WINDOWS
     {"startfile",       win32_startfile, METH_VARARGS, win32_startfile__doc__},
     {"kill",    win32_kill, METH_VARARGS, win32_kill__doc__},