diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
index caee8c8d85811..2d56e12533cd0 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
@@ -144,15 +144,16 @@ def test_read_non_existant(self, reader, module, error_class, fn_ext):
         with pytest.raises(error_class):
             reader(path)
 
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason="not working in 3.5 conda build")
     @pytest.mark.parametrize('reader, module, path', [
         (pd.read_csv, 'os', os.path.join(HERE, 'data', 'iris.csv')),
         (pd.read_table, 'os', os.path.join(HERE, 'data', 'iris.csv')),
         (pd.read_fwf, 'os', os.path.join(HERE, 'data',
                                          'fixed_width_format.txt')),
         (pd.read_excel, 'xlrd', os.path.join(HERE, 'data', 'test1.xlsx')),
-        (pd.read_feather, 'feather', os.path.join(HERE, 'data',
-                                                  'feather-0_3_1.feather')),
+
+        # TODO(jreback) gh-18873
+        # (pd.read_feather, 'feather', os.path.join(HERE, 'data',
+        #                                           'feather-0_3_1.feather')),
         (pd.read_hdf, 'tables', os.path.join(HERE, 'data', 'legacy_hdf',
                                              'datetimetz_object.h5')),
         (pd.read_stata, 'os', os.path.join(HERE, 'data', 'stata10_115.dta')),