diff --git a/testsuite/driver/my_typing.py b/testsuite/driver/my_typing.py
index a31775d7f2ec693e594936cb306ea795f0df9db0..c3f3e02fe77acd9401a51764a0b0f8065be28f1c 100644
--- a/testsuite/driver/my_typing.py
+++ b/testsuite/driver/my_typing.py
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ except:
 # is taken. We exploit this below.
 
 # TextIO is missing on some older Pythons.
-if 'TextIO' in globals():
-    TextIO = typing.TextIO
+if 'TextIO' not in globals():
+    try:
+        TextIO = typing.TextIO
+    except ImportError:
+        TextIO = None # type: ignore
 else:
     TextIO = None # type: ignore