diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_algos.py b/pandas/tests/test_algos.py
index c56bf944699e2..3f75c508d22f9 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_algos.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_algos.py
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ def test_complex_sorting(self):
         # gh 12666 - check no segfault
         x17 = np.array([complex(i) for i in range(17)], dtype=object)
 
-        msg = ("'<' not supported between instances of 'complex' and"
+        msg = (r"'(<|>)' not supported between instances of 'complex' and"
                r" 'complex'|"
                r"unorderable types: complex\(\) > complex\(\)")
         with pytest.raises(TypeError, match=msg):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_sorting.py b/pandas/tests/test_sorting.py
index e83bdb1af9121..2a64947042979 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_sorting.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_sorting.py
@@ -409,9 +409,9 @@ def test_mixed_integer_from_list(self):
     def test_unsortable(self):
         # GH 13714
         arr = np.array([1, 2, datetime.now(), 0, 3], dtype=object)
-        msg = ("'<' not supported between instances of 'datetime.datetime'"
-               r" and 'int'|"
-               r"unorderable types: int\(\) > datetime.datetime\(\)")
+        msg = (r"'(<|>)' not supported between instances of"
+               r" 'datetime\.datetime' and 'int'|"
+               r"unorderable types: int\(\) > datetime\.datetime\(\)")
         if compat.PY2:
             # RuntimeWarning: tp_compare didn't return -1 or -2 for exception
             with warnings.catch_warnings():