diff --git a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
index e8039a611..c4020809d 100644
--- a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
@@ -288,10 +288,14 @@ def create_test_files(self):
             # File mode
             os.chmod('input/dir2', 0o555)  # if we take away write perms, we need root to remove contents
             # File owner
-            os.chown('input/file1', 100, 200)
+            os.chown('input/file1', 100, 200)  # raises OSError invalid argument on cygwin
             have_root = True  # we have (fake)root
         except PermissionError:
             have_root = False
+        except OSError as e:
+            if e.errno != errno.EINVAL:
+                raise
+            have_root = False
         return have_root
 
     def test_basic_functionality(self):