diff --git a/disable_test_on_big_endian.patch b/disable_test_on_big_endian.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f997c07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/disable_test_on_big_endian.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+From: Michel Normand <normand@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+Subject: disable test on big endian
+Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:35:13 +0200
+
+disable test on big endian
+
+because still open
+https://github.com/joblib/joblib/issues/279
+
+Signed-off-by: Michel Normand <normand@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+---
+ joblib/test/test_numpy_pickle.py |    7 +++++++
+ 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)
+
+Index: joblib-0.16.0/joblib/test/test_numpy_pickle.py
+===================================================================
+--- joblib-0.16.0.orig/joblib/test/test_numpy_pickle.py
++++ joblib-0.16.0/joblib/test/test_numpy_pickle.py
+@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
+ 
+ import copy
+ import os
++import sys
+ import random
+ import re
+ import io
+@@ -426,6 +427,12 @@ def _check_pickle(filename, expected_lis
+ 
+ @with_numpy
+ def test_joblib_pickle_across_python_versions():
++    # temporarily disable this test on non little-endian machines
++    # because next endianness lines not sufficient.
++    # https://github.com/joblib/joblib/issues/279 still open.
++    if sys.byteorder != 'little':
++        raise SkipTest('Skipping this test on non little-endian machines')
++
+     # We need to be specific about dtypes in particular endianness
+     # because the pickles can be generated on one architecture and
+     # the tests run on another one. See
diff --git a/python-joblib.changes b/python-joblib.changes
index 2a72d4c..04bab9f 100644
--- a/python-joblib.changes
+++ b/python-joblib.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Fri Aug 21 08:40:04 UTC 2020 - Michel Normand <normand@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+
+- New disable_test_on_big_endian.patch as per upstream issue
+  https://github.com/joblib/joblib/issues/279
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Sat Jul 18 09:12:26 UTC 2020 - Dirk Mueller <dmueller@suse.com>
 
diff --git a/python-joblib.spec b/python-joblib.spec
index 0b009ef..fc85965 100644
--- a/python-joblib.spec
+++ b/python-joblib.spec
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ License:        BSD-3-Clause
 Group:          Development/Languages/Python
 URL:            https://github.com/joblib/joblib
 Source:         https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/j/joblib/joblib-%{version}.tar.gz
+Patch1:         disable_test_on_big_endian.patch
 BuildRequires:  %{python_module lz4}
 BuildRequires:  %{python_module numpy}
 BuildRequires:  %{python_module psutil}
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ Joblib can handle large data and has specific optimizations for `numpy` arrays.
 
 %prep
 %setup -q -n joblib-%{version}
+%patch1 -p1
 
 %build
 %python_build