diff --git a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
index 1e5b0c6ad1b..d48a0c8071c 100644
--- a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
+++ b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ class AdminScriptTestCase(SimpleTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         tmpdir = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
         self.addCleanup(tmpdir.cleanup)
-        self.test_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir.name, 'test_project')
+        # os.path.realpath() is required for temporary directories on macOS,
+        # where `/var` is a symlink to `/private/var`.
+        self.test_dir = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(tmpdir.name, 'test_project'))
         os.mkdir(self.test_dir)
         with open(os.path.join(self.test_dir, '__init__.py'), 'w'):
             pass