diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_text_file.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_text_file.py
index 8f4f7e83c0b..00f083a1308 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_text_file.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_text_file.py
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ class TextFileTestCase(support.TempdirManager, unittest.TestCase):
         # so they are really called by the buildbots
 
         # result 1: no fancy options
-        result1 = map(lambda x: x + "\n",
-                      TEST_DATA.split("\n")[0:-1])
+        result1 = ['# test file\n', '\n', 'line 3 \\\n',
+                   '# intervening comment\n',
+                   '  continues on next line\n']
 
         # result 2: just strip comments
         result2 = ["\n",