diff --git a/Lib/test/test_gdbm.py b/Lib/test/test_gdbm.py
index e9169a24e7ea76..c4a498fec915e8 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_gdbm.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_gdbm.py
@@ -62,9 +62,13 @@ def test_reorganize(self):
         self.g = gdbm.open(filename, 'c')
         size0 = os.path.getsize(filename)
 
-        self.g['x'] = 'x' * 10000
+        # bpo-33901: on macOS with gdbm 1.15, an empty database uses 16 MiB
+        # and adding an entry of 10,000 B has no effect on the file size.
+        # Add size0 bytes to make sure that the file size changes.
+        value_size = max(size0, 10000)
+        self.g['x'] = 'x' * value_size
         size1 = os.path.getsize(filename)
-        self.assertTrue(size0 < size1)
+        self.assertGreater(size1, size0)
 
         del self.g['x']
         # 'size' is supposed to be the same even after deleting an entry.
@@ -72,7 +76,8 @@ def test_reorganize(self):
 
         self.g.reorganize()
         size2 = os.path.getsize(filename)
-        self.assertTrue(size1 > size2 >= size0)
+        self.assertLess(size2, size1)
+        self.assertGreaterEqual(size2, size0)
 
 
 def test_main():
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2018-06-19-14-04-21.bpo-33901.OFW1Sr.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2018-06-19-14-04-21.bpo-33901.OFW1Sr.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..78244bb53b6f1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2018-06-19-14-04-21.bpo-33901.OFW1Sr.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix test_gdbm on macOS with gdbm 1.15: add a larger value to make sure that
+the file size changes.