diff --git a/Lib/test/test_webbrowser.py b/Lib/test/test_webbrowser.py
index 2d695bc883131f..ca481c57c3d972 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_webbrowser.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_webbrowser.py
@@ -272,6 +272,17 @@ def test_register_preferred(self):
         self._check_registration(preferred=True)
 
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(sys.platform == "darwin", "macOS specific test")
+    def test_no_xdg_settings_on_macOS(self):
+        # On macOS webbrowser should not use xdg-settings to
+        # look for X11 based browsers (for those users with
+        # XQuartz installed)
+        with mock.patch("subprocess.check_output") as ck_o:
+            webbrowser.register_standard_browsers()
+
+        ck_o.assert_not_called()
+
+
 class ImportTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_register(self):
         webbrowser = import_helper.import_fresh_module('webbrowser')
diff --git a/Lib/webbrowser.py b/Lib/webbrowser.py
index 8b0628745c57fc..6f9c6a6de177e6 100755
--- a/Lib/webbrowser.py
+++ b/Lib/webbrowser.py
@@ -495,7 +495,12 @@ def register_standard_browsers():
             register("microsoft-edge", None, Edge("MicrosoftEdge.exe"))
     else:
         # Prefer X browsers if present
-        if os.environ.get("DISPLAY") or os.environ.get("WAYLAND_DISPLAY"):
+        #
+        # NOTE: Do not check for X11 browser on macOS,
+        # XQuartz installation sets a DISPLAY environment variable and will
+        # autostart when someone tries to access the display. Mac users in
+        # general don't need an X11 browser.
+        if sys.platform != "darwin" and (os.environ.get("DISPLAY") or os.environ.get("WAYLAND_DISPLAY")):
             try:
                 cmd = "xdg-settings get default-web-browser".split()
                 raw_result = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/macOS/2023-12-21-09-41-42.gh-issue-87277.IF6EZZ.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/macOS/2023-12-21-09-41-42.gh-issue-87277.IF6EZZ.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4ae55c0293198a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/macOS/2023-12-21-09-41-42.gh-issue-87277.IF6EZZ.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+webbrowser: Don't look for X11 browsers on macOS. Those are generally not
+used and probing for them can result in starting XQuartz even if it isn't
+used otherwise.