diff -r 135e1a8144ec Lib/test/support/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Mon Jan 09 11:21:37 2017 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Mon Jan 09 16:17:46 2017 +0100
@@ -91,9 +91,10 @@
     "requires_IEEE_754", "skip_unless_xattr", "requires_zlib",
     "anticipate_failure", "load_package_tests", "detect_api_mismatch",
     "check__all__", "requires_android_level", "requires_multiprocessing_queue",
+    "supported_operation",
     # sys
     "is_jython", "is_android", "check_impl_detail", "unix_shell",
-    "setswitchinterval", "android_not_root",
+    "setswitchinterval",
     # network
     "HOST", "IPV6_ENABLED", "find_unused_port", "bind_port", "open_urlresource",
     "bind_unix_socket",
@@ -784,7 +785,6 @@
 except AttributeError:
     # sys.getandroidapilevel() is only available on Android
     is_android = False
-android_not_root = (is_android and os.geteuid() != 0)
 
 if sys.platform != 'win32':
     unix_shell = '/system/bin/sh' if is_android else '/bin/sh'
@@ -1823,6 +1823,14 @@
     msg = "requires a functioning shared semaphore implementation"
     return test if _have_mp_queue else unittest.skip(msg)(test)
 
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def supported_operation():
+    """Context manager to skip tests when the operation is not supported."""
+    try:
+        yield
+    except PermissionError as e:
+        raise unittest.SkipTest(str(e))
+
 def _parse_guards(guards):
     # Returns a tuple ({platform_name: run_me}, default_value)
     if not guards:
diff -r 135e1a8144ec Lib/test/test_os.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_os.py	Mon Jan 09 11:21:37 2017 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_os.py	Mon Jan 09 16:17:46 2017 +0100
@@ -1695,7 +1695,8 @@
     def _test_link(self, file1, file2):
         create_file(file1)
 
-        os.link(file1, file2)
+        with support.supported_operation():
+            os.link(file1, file2)
         with open(file1, "r") as f1, open(file2, "r") as f2:
             self.assertTrue(os.path.sameopenfile(f1.fileno(), f2.fileno()))
 
@@ -2793,7 +2794,8 @@
         """
         try:
             size = subprocess.check_output(['stty', 'size']).decode().split()
-        except (FileNotFoundError, subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+        except (FileNotFoundError, subprocess.CalledProcessError,
+                PermissionError):
             self.skipTest("stty invocation failed")
         expected = (int(size[1]), int(size[0])) # reversed order
 
@@ -3147,7 +3149,8 @@
         os.mkdir(dirname)
         filename = self.create_file("file.txt")
         if link:
-            os.link(filename, os.path.join(self.path, "link_file.txt"))
+            with support.supported_operation():
+                os.link(filename, os.path.join(self.path, "link_file.txt"))
         if symlink:
             os.symlink(dirname, os.path.join(self.path, "symlink_dir"),
                        target_is_directory=True)