diff --git a/Lib/test/test_lib2to3.py b/Lib/test/test_lib2to3.py
index 15c317e957bc05..e939d47336e365 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_lib2to3.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_lib2to3.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import unittest
-from test.support import check_warnings
+from test.support import check_warnings, import_fresh_module
 
 with check_warnings(("", PendingDeprecationWarning)):
-    from lib2to3.tests import load_tests
+    load_tests = import_fresh_module('lib2to3.tests', fresh=['lib2to3']).load_tests
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-10-08-14-00-17.bpo-41970.aZ8QFf.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-10-08-14-00-17.bpo-41970.aZ8QFf.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4cdca197fbfc64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-10-08-14-00-17.bpo-41970.aZ8QFf.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Avoid a test failure in ``test_lib2to3`` if the module has already imported
+at the time the test executes. Patch by Pablo Galindo.