diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/test_analytics.py b/pandas/tests/frame/test_analytics.py
index 82f8a102f9c64..3964e790c7c12 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/test_analytics.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/test_analytics.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ def assert_stat_op_calc(
     has_skipna=True,
     check_dtype=True,
     check_dates=False,
+    check_less_precise=False,
     skipna_alternative=None,
 ):
     """
@@ -53,6 +54,9 @@ def assert_stat_op_calc(
         "alternative(frame)" should be checked.
     check_dates : bool, default false
         Whether opname should be tested on a Datetime Series
+    check_less_precise : bool, default False
+        Whether results should only be compared approximately;
+        passed on to tm.assert_series_equal
     skipna_alternative : function, default None
         NaN-safe version of alternative
     """
@@ -80,11 +84,17 @@ def wrapper(x):
         result0 = f(axis=0, skipna=False)
         result1 = f(axis=1, skipna=False)
         tm.assert_series_equal(
-            result0, frame.apply(wrapper), check_dtype=check_dtype,
+            result0,
+            frame.apply(wrapper),
+            check_dtype=check_dtype,
+            check_less_precise=check_less_precise,
         )
         # HACK: win32
         tm.assert_series_equal(
-            result1, frame.apply(wrapper, axis=1), check_dtype=False,
+            result1,
+            frame.apply(wrapper, axis=1),
+            check_dtype=False,
+            check_less_precise=check_less_precise,
         )
     else:
         skipna_wrapper = alternative
@@ -92,12 +102,17 @@ def wrapper(x):
     result0 = f(axis=0)
     result1 = f(axis=1)
     tm.assert_series_equal(
-        result0, frame.apply(skipna_wrapper), check_dtype=check_dtype,
+        result0,
+        frame.apply(skipna_wrapper),
+        check_dtype=check_dtype,
+        check_less_precise=check_less_precise,
     )
 
     if opname in ["sum", "prod"]:
         expected = frame.apply(skipna_wrapper, axis=1)
-        tm.assert_series_equal(result1, expected, check_dtype=False)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(
+            result1, expected, check_dtype=False, check_less_precise=check_less_precise
+        )
 
     # check dtypes
     if check_dtype:
@@ -316,9 +331,15 @@ def kurt(x):
             check_dates=True,
         )
 
+        # GH#32571 check_less_precise is needed on apparently-random
+        #  py37-npdev builds and OSX-PY36-min_version builds
         # mixed types (with upcasting happening)
         assert_stat_op_calc(
-            "sum", np.sum, mixed_float_frame.astype("float32"), check_dtype=False,
+            "sum",
+            np.sum,
+            mixed_float_frame.astype("float32"),
+            check_dtype=False,
+            check_less_precise=True,
         )
 
         assert_stat_op_calc(
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_sql.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_sql.py
index 86502a67e1869..bf0ed4fe25346 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_sql.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_sql.py
@@ -2372,7 +2372,7 @@ def test_write_row_by_row(self):
 
         result = sql.read_sql("select * from test", con=self.conn)
         result.index = frame.index
-        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, frame)
+        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, frame, check_less_precise=True)
 
     def test_execute(self):
         frame = tm.makeTimeDataFrame()
@@ -2632,7 +2632,9 @@ def test_write_row_by_row(self):
 
         result = sql.read_sql("select * from test", con=self.conn)
         result.index = frame.index
-        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, frame)
+        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, frame, check_less_precise=True)
+        # GH#32571 result comes back rounded to 6 digits in some builds;
+        #  no obvious pattern
 
     def test_chunksize_read_type(self):
         frame = tm.makeTimeDataFrame()