diff --git a/pandas/_testing.py b/pandas/_testing.py
index 6424a8097fbf1..0180169973e0c 100644
--- a/pandas/_testing.py
+++ b/pandas/_testing.py
@@ -1104,6 +1104,7 @@ def assert_series_equal(
     check_datetimelike_compat=False,
     check_categorical=True,
     check_category_order=True,
+    check_freq=True,
     obj="Series",
 ):
     """
@@ -1142,6 +1143,10 @@ def assert_series_equal(
         Whether to compare category order of internal Categoricals.
 
         .. versionadded:: 1.0.2
+    check_freq : bool, default True
+        Whether to check the `freq` attribute on a DatetimeIndex or TimedeltaIndex.
+
+        .. versionadded:: 1.1.0
     obj : str, default 'Series'
         Specify object name being compared, internally used to show appropriate
         assertion message.
@@ -1171,7 +1176,7 @@ def assert_series_equal(
         check_categorical=check_categorical,
         obj=f"{obj}.index",
     )
-    if isinstance(left.index, (pd.DatetimeIndex, pd.TimedeltaIndex)):
+    if check_freq and isinstance(left.index, (pd.DatetimeIndex, pd.TimedeltaIndex)):
         lidx = left.index
         ridx = right.index
         assert lidx.freq == ridx.freq, (lidx.freq, ridx.freq)
@@ -1274,6 +1279,7 @@ def assert_frame_equal(
     check_datetimelike_compat=False,
     check_categorical=True,
     check_like=False,
+    check_freq=True,
     obj="DataFrame",
 ):
     """
@@ -1327,6 +1333,10 @@ def assert_frame_equal(
         If True, ignore the order of index & columns.
         Note: index labels must match their respective rows
         (same as in columns) - same labels must be with the same data.
+    check_freq : bool, default True
+        Whether to check the `freq` attribute on a DatetimeIndex or TimedeltaIndex.
+
+        .. versionadded:: 1.1.0
     obj : str, default 'DataFrame'
         Specify object name being compared, internally used to show appropriate
         assertion message.
@@ -1433,6 +1443,7 @@ def assert_frame_equal(
                 check_names=check_names,
                 check_datetimelike_compat=check_datetimelike_compat,
                 check_categorical=check_categorical,
+                check_freq=check_freq,
                 obj=f'{obj}.iloc[:, {i}] (column name="{col}")',
             )
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/pytables/test_store.py b/pandas/tests/io/pytables/test_store.py
index 299ae2f41d676..c937f9ac42818 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/pytables/test_store.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/pytables/test_store.py
@@ -1552,12 +1552,16 @@ def check_col(key, name, size):
                 & (df_new.A > 0)
                 & (df_new.B < 0)
             ]
-            tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_index_type=False)
+            tm.assert_frame_equal(
+                result, expected, check_index_type=False, check_freq=False
+            )
 
             # yield an empty frame
             result = store.select("df", "string='foo' and string2='cool'")
             expected = df_new[(df_new.string == "foo") & (df_new.string2 == "cool")]
-            tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_index_type=False)
+            tm.assert_frame_equal(
+                result, expected, check_index_type=False, check_freq=False
+            )
 
         with ensure_clean_store(setup_path) as store:
             # doc example
@@ -1577,11 +1581,16 @@ def check_col(key, name, size):
             result = store.select("df_dc", "B>0")
 
             expected = df_dc[df_dc.B > 0]
-            tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_index_type=False)
+            tm.assert_frame_equal(
+                result, expected, check_index_type=False, check_freq=False
+            )
 
             result = store.select("df_dc", ["B > 0", "C > 0", "string == foo"])
             expected = df_dc[(df_dc.B > 0) & (df_dc.C > 0) & (df_dc.string == "foo")]
-            tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_index_type=False)
+            tm.assert_frame_equal(
+                result, expected, check_index_type=False, check_freq=False
+            )
+            # FIXME: 2020-05-07 freq check randomly fails in the CI
 
         with ensure_clean_store(setup_path) as store:
             # doc example part 2