diff --git a/Lib/test/test_unicodedata.py b/Lib/test/test_unicodedata.py
index 85a3c2d6d5442b..9e0097c892e7f7 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_unicodedata.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_unicodedata.py
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
 import unicodedata
 import unittest
 from test.support import (open_urlresource, requires_resource, script_helper,
-                          cpython_only, check_disallow_instantiation)
+                          cpython_only, check_disallow_instantiation,
+                          ResourceDenied)
 
 
 class UnicodeMethodsTest(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -345,8 +346,8 @@ def test_normalization(self):
         except PermissionError:
             self.skipTest(f"Permission error when downloading {TESTDATAURL} "
                           f"into the test data directory")
-        except (OSError, HTTPException):
-            self.fail(f"Could not retrieve {TESTDATAURL}")
+        except (OSError, HTTPException) as exc:
+            self.skipTest(f"Failed to download {TESTDATAURL}: {exc}")
 
         with testdata:
             self.run_normalization_tests(testdata)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2022-12-05-16-12-56.gh-issue-99892.sz_eW8.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2022-12-05-16-12-56.gh-issue-99892.sz_eW8.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..eded0361fbebbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2022-12-05-16-12-56.gh-issue-99892.sz_eW8.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Skip test_normalization() of test_unicodedata if it fails to download
+NormalizationTest.txt file from pythontest.net. Patch by Victor Stinner.