diff --git a/Lib/test/test_os.py b/Lib/test/test_os.py
index 9c965444f04b23..f7408a83759789 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_os.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_os.py
@@ -2206,8 +2206,11 @@ def test_listdir(self):
         # test listdir without arguments
         current_directory = os.getcwd()
         try:
-            os.chdir(os.sep)
-            self.assertEqual(set(os.listdir()), set(os.listdir(os.sep)))
+            with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+                os.chdir(tmpdir)
+                open("a.txt", "w").close()
+                open("test_file.foo", "w").close()
+                self.assertEqual(set(os.listdir()), set(os.listdir(tmpdir)))
         finally:
             os.chdir(current_directory)
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-03-16-19-38-15.bpo-39986.xK3wOi.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-03-16-19-38-15.bpo-39986.xK3wOi.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..cdf04faae80f48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2020-03-16-19-38-15.bpo-39986.xK3wOi.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Make test_os test_listdir test robust against root directory changing while
+the test runs.