diff --git a/tests/playwright/examples/test_examples.py b/tests/playwright/examples/test_examples.py
index 6977f77c8..536f1416b 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/examples/test_examples.py
+++ b/tests/playwright/examples/test_examples.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 def test_examples(page: Page, ex_app_path: str) -> None:
 
     skip_on_windows_with_timezonefinder(ex_app_path)
+    skip_airmass_on_3_9(ex_app_path)
 
     validate_example(page, ex_app_path)
 
@@ -33,3 +34,33 @@ def skip_on_windows_with_timezonefinder(ex_app_path: str) -> None:
         pytest.skip(
             "timezonefinder has difficulty compiling on windows. Skipping example app. posit-dev/py-shiny#1651"
         )
+
+
+def skip_airmass_on_3_9(ex_app_path: str) -> None:
+    print(ex_app_path)
+    if ex_app_path != "examples/airmass/app.py":
+        return
+
+    import sys
+
+    if sys.version_info[:2] != (3, 9):
+        return
+
+    try:
+        # Astropy loads `numpy` at run time
+        import astropy.coordinates as _  # pyright: ignore # noqa: F401
+        import astropy.units as __  # pyright: ignore # noqa: F401
+
+        # Future proofing: if astropy is _actually_ loading, raise an error
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "This code believes astropy and numpy have difficulty loading on python 3.9. Please remove this check if it is no longer true."
+        )
+    except AttributeError as e:
+        if "numpy" in str(e) and "product" in str(e):
+            pytest.skip(
+                "astropy and numpy has difficulty loading on python 3.9. Skipping example app: airmass. posit-dev/py-shiny#1678"
+            )
+            return
+
+        # Future proofing: if the error is not what we expect, raise it
+        raise e
diff --git a/tests/playwright/shiny/components/data_frame/pandas_compatible/test_df_pandas_compatible.py b/tests/playwright/shiny/components/data_frame/pandas_compatible/test_df_pandas_compatible.py
index 283a74aca..0978b5708 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/shiny/components/data_frame/pandas_compatible/test_df_pandas_compatible.py
+++ b/tests/playwright/shiny/components/data_frame/pandas_compatible/test_df_pandas_compatible.py
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 import re
 
 from playwright.sync_api import Page
+from utils.deploy_utils import skip_on_python_version
 
 from shiny.playwright import controller
 from shiny.run import ShinyAppProc
 
 
+@skip_on_python_version(
+    "3.9",
+    reason="Astropy (and numpy) hav difficulty loading on python 3.9. posit-dev/py-shiny#1678",
+)
 def test_data_frame_pandas_compatible(
     page: Page,
     local_app: ShinyAppProc,
diff --git a/tests/playwright/utils/deploy_utils.py b/tests/playwright/utils/deploy_utils.py
index 4a0b9d512..7b1a237d6 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/utils/deploy_utils.py
+++ b/tests/playwright/utils/deploy_utils.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import tempfile
 import time
 import warnings
-from typing import Any, Callable, List, TypeVar
+from typing import Any, Callable, List, Optional, TypeVar
 
 import pytest
 import requests
@@ -68,6 +68,39 @@ def skip_on_webkit(fn: CallableT) -> CallableT:
     return fn
 
 
+def skip_on_python_version(
+    version: str,
+    reason: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> Callable[[CallableT], CallableT]:
+
+    reason_str = reason or f"Do not run on python {version}"
+
+    is_valid_version = (
+        re.match(r"\d+", version)
+        or re.match(r"\d+\.\d+", version)
+        or re.match(r"\d+\.\d+\.\d+", version)
+    ) is not None
+
+    assert is_valid_version
+
+    def _(fn: CallableT) -> CallableT:
+
+        versions_match = True
+        for i, v in enumerate(version.split(".")):
+            if sys.version_info[i] != int(v):
+                versions_match = False
+                break
+
+        fn = pytest.mark.skipif(
+            versions_match,
+            reason=reason_str,
+        )(fn)
+
+        return fn
+
+    return _
+
+
 def run_command(cmd: str) -> str:
     output = subprocess.run(
         cmd,