diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backends_interactive.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backends_interactive.py
index 7e6922ebcd43..29ee4db3fc0b 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backends_interactive.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backends_interactive.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ def _get_testable_interactive_backends():
             reason = "No $DISPLAY"
         elif any(importlib.util.find_spec(dep) is None for dep in deps):
             reason = "Missing dependency"
+        elif "wx" in deps and sys.platform == "darwin":
+            reason = "wx backends known not to work on OSX"
         backends.append(pytest.mark.skip(reason=reason)(backend) if reason
                         else backend)
     return backends