diff --git a/gas/testsuite/ChangeLog b/gas/testsuite/ChangeLog
index 0f36e6f4c0..1d04b8965b 100644
--- a/gas/testsuite/ChangeLog
+++ b/gas/testsuite/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 2010-05-13  Alan Modra  <amodra@gmail.com>
 
+	* gas/all/gas.exp: Don't run byte test on powerpc.
+
 	* gas/ppc/a2.d: Correct wclr encoding.
 
 2010-05-11  Andrew Stubbs  <ams@codesourcery.com>
diff --git a/gas/testsuite/gas/all/gas.exp b/gas/testsuite/gas/all/gas.exp
index 8e0483e067..51d7a58114 100644
--- a/gas/testsuite/gas/all/gas.exp
+++ b/gas/testsuite/gas/all/gas.exp
@@ -329,7 +329,10 @@ if { ![istarget "tic4x*-*-*"] && ![istarget "tic54x*-*-*"] && ![istarget "hppa*-
     run_dump_test relax
 }
 
-run_dump_test byte
+# powerpc allows a string argument to .byte
+if { ![istarget "powerpc*-*-*"] && ![istarget "rs6000*-*-*"] } {
+    run_dump_test byte
+}
 
 # .quad is 16 bytes on i960.
 if { ![istarget "i960-*-*"] } {