diff --git a/gdb/ChangeLog b/gdb/ChangeLog
index 291a3ae70d8..0130d06c9fc 100644
--- a/gdb/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdb/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2020-04-16  Kevin Buettner  <kevinb@redhat.com>
+
+	* python/python.c (do_start_initialization): Don't call
+	PyEval_InitThreads for Python 3.9 and beyond.
+
 2020-04-15  Kamil Rytarowski  <n54@gmx.com>
 
 	* obsd-nat.c (obsd_nat_target::update_thread_list): Pass "this" to
diff --git a/gdb/python/python.c b/gdb/python/python.c
index 02543aea710..e56520ab11a 100644
--- a/gdb/python/python.c
+++ b/gdb/python/python.c
@@ -1701,7 +1701,12 @@ do_start_initialization ()
 #endif
 
   Py_Initialize ();
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03090000
+  /* PyEval_InitThreads became deprecated in Python 3.9 and will
+     be removed in Python 3.11.  Prior to Python 3.7, this call was
+     required to initialize the GIL.  */
   PyEval_InitThreads ();
+#endif
 
 #ifdef IS_PY3K
   gdb_module = PyImport_ImportModule ("_gdb");