diff --git a/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php b/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php
index 0249e9e26f3..fa646e7b0b0 100644
--- a/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php
+++ b/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php
@@ -650,7 +650,8 @@ public function runBare()
                 PHPUnit_Util_GlobalState::backupGlobals($this->backupGlobalsBlacklist);
             }
 
-            if ($this->backupStaticAttributes === NULL || $this->backupStaticAttributes === TRUE) {
+            if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3', '>') &&
+               ($this->backupStaticAttributes === NULL || $this->backupStaticAttributes === TRUE)) {
                 PHPUnit_Util_GlobalState::backupStaticAttributes($this->backupStaticAttributesBlacklist);
             }
         }
@@ -720,7 +721,8 @@ public function runBare()
                 PHPUnit_Util_GlobalState::restoreGlobals($this->backupGlobalsBlacklist);
             }
 
-            if ($this->backupStaticAttributes === NULL || $this->backupStaticAttributes === TRUE) {
+            if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3', '>') &&
+               ($this->backupStaticAttributes === NULL || $this->backupStaticAttributes === TRUE)) {
                 PHPUnit_Util_GlobalState::restoreStaticAttributes();
             }
         }