diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 704d6f292..a982210b0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ New features
 Bug fixes / Maintenance
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
+- fix assertion interpretation with the ** operator
 - fix issue105 assignment on the same line as a failing assertion
 - fix issue104 proper escaping for test names in junitxml plugin
 - fix issue57 -f|--looponfail to work with xpassing tests
diff --git a/py/_code/_assertionnew.py b/py/_code/_assertionnew.py
index e12fb932d..99d4abbf4 100644
--- a/py/_code/_assertionnew.py
+++ b/py/_code/_assertionnew.py
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ operator_map = {
     ast.LtE : "<=",
     ast.Gt : ">",
     ast.GtE : ">=",
+    ast.Pow : "**",
     ast.Is : "is",
     ast.IsNot : "is not",
     ast.In : "in",
diff --git a/testing/code/test_assertion.py b/testing/code/test_assertion.py
index ab28437b3..01bb57b27 100644
--- a/testing/code/test_assertion.py
+++ b/testing/code/test_assertion.py
@@ -146,6 +146,13 @@ def test_multiple_statements_per_line():
         e = exvalue()
         assert "assert 1 == 2" in e.msg
 
+def test_power():
+    try:
+        assert 2**3 == 7
+    except AssertionError:
+        e = exvalue()
+        assert "assert 8 == 7" in e.msg
+
 
 class TestView: