python · colesbury · Jan 29, 2026 · vstinner · Jan 30, 2026
diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_function.h b/Include/internal/pycore_function.h
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ static inline PyObject* _PyFunction_GET_BUILTINS(PyObject *func) {
 #define _PyFunction_GET_BUILTINS(func) _PyFunction_GET_BUILTINS(_PyObject_CAST(func))
 
 
+/* Get the callable wrapped by a staticmethod.
+   Returns a borrowed reference, or NULL if uninitialized.
+   The caller must ensure 'sm' is a staticmethod object. */
+extern PyObject *_PyStaticMethod_GetFunc(PyObject *sm);
+
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_object.h b/Include/internal/pycore_object.h
@@ -898,6 +898,10 @@ _PyType_LookupStackRefAndVersion(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *name, _PyStackRef
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyObject_GetMethodStackRef(PyThreadState *ts, PyObject *obj,
                                        PyObject *name, _PyStackRef *method);
 
+// Like PyObject_GetAttr but returns a _PyStackRef. For types, this can
+// return a deferred reference to reduce reference count contention.
+PyAPI_FUNC(_PyStackRef) PyObject_GetAttrStackRef(PyObject *obj, PyObject *name);
+
 // Cache the provided init method in the specialization cache of type if the
 // provided type version matches the current version of the type.
 //

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_typeobject.h b/Include/internal/pycore_typeobject.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include "pycore_interp_structs.h" // managed_static_type_state
 #include "pycore_moduleobject.h"  // PyModuleObject
+#include "pycore_structs.h"       // _PyStackRef
 
 
 /* state */
@@ -112,6 +113,8 @@ _PyType_IsReady(PyTypeObject *type)
 extern PyObject* _Py_type_getattro_impl(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *name,
                                         int *suppress_missing_attribute);
 extern PyObject* _Py_type_getattro(PyObject *type, PyObject *name);
+extern _PyStackRef _Py_type_getattro_stackref(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *name,
+                                              int *suppress_missing_attribute);
 
 extern PyObject* _Py_BaseObject_RichCompare(PyObject* self, PyObject* other, int op);
 

diff --git a/Modules/_testinternalcapi/test_cases.c.h b/Modules/_testinternalcapi/test_cases.c.h
@@ -935,6 +935,10 @@ _PyStack_AsDict(PyObject *const *values, PyObject *kwnames)
 
    The newly allocated argument vector supports PY_VECTORCALL_ARGUMENTS_OFFSET.
 
+   The positional arguments are borrowed references from the input array
+   (which must be kept alive by the caller). The keyword argument values
+   are new references.
+
    When done, you must call _PyStack_UnpackDict_Free(stack, nargs, kwnames) */
 PyObject *const *
 _PyStack_UnpackDict(PyThreadState *tstate,
@@ -970,9 +974,9 @@ _PyStack_UnpackDict(PyThreadState *tstate,
 
     stack++;  /* For PY_VECTORCALL_ARGUMENTS_OFFSET */
 
-    /* Copy positional arguments */
+    /* Copy positional arguments (borrowed references) */
     for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < nargs; i++) {
-        stack[i] = Py_NewRef(args[i]);
+        stack[i] = args[i];
     }
 
     PyObject **kwstack = stack + nargs;
@@ -1009,9 +1013,10 @@ void
 _PyStack_UnpackDict_Free(PyObject *const *stack, Py_ssize_t nargs,
                          PyObject *kwnames)
 {
-    Py_ssize_t n = PyTuple_GET_SIZE(kwnames) + nargs;
-    for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-        Py_DECREF(stack[i]);
+    /* Only decref kwargs values, positional args are borrowed */
+    Py_ssize_t nkwargs = PyTuple_GET_SIZE(kwnames);
+    for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < nkwargs; i++) {
+        Py_DECREF(stack[nargs + i]);
     }
     _PyStack_UnpackDict_FreeNoDecRef(stack, kwnames);
 }

diff --git a/Objects/funcobject.c b/Objects/funcobject.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "pycore_long.h"          // _PyLong_GetOne()
 #include "pycore_modsupport.h"    // _PyArg_NoKeywords()
 #include "pycore_object.h"        // _PyObject_GC_UNTRACK()
+#include "pycore_object_deferred.h" // _PyObject_SetDeferredRefcount()
 #include "pycore_pyerrors.h"      // _PyErr_Occurred()
 #include "pycore_setobject.h"     // _PySet_NextEntry()
 #include "pycore_stats.h"
@@ -1868,7 +1869,15 @@ PyStaticMethod_New(PyObject *callable)
     staticmethod *sm = (staticmethod *)
         PyType_GenericAlloc(&PyStaticMethod_Type, 0);
     if (sm != NULL) {
+        _PyObject_SetDeferredRefcount((PyObject *)sm);
         sm->sm_callable = Py_NewRef(callable);
     }
     return (PyObject *)sm;
 }
+
+PyObject *
+_PyStaticMethod_GetFunc(PyObject *self)
+{
+    staticmethod *sm = _PyStaticMethod_CAST(self);
+    return sm->sm_callable;
+}
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "pycore_tuple.h"         // _PyTuple_DebugMallocStats()
 #include "pycore_typeobject.h"    // _PyBufferWrapper_Type
 #include "pycore_typevarobject.h" // _PyTypeAlias_Type
+#include "pycore_stackref.h"      // PyStackRef_FromPyObjectSteal
 #include "pycore_unionobject.h"   // _PyUnion_Type
 
 
@@ -1334,6 +1335,54 @@ PyObject_GetAttr(PyObject *v, PyObject *name)
     return result;
 }
 
+/* Like PyObject_GetAttr but returns a _PyStackRef.
+   For types (tp_getattro == _Py_type_getattro), this can return
+   a deferred reference to reduce reference count contention. */
+_PyStackRef
+PyObject_GetAttrStackRef(PyObject *v, PyObject *name)
+{
+    PyTypeObject *tp = Py_TYPE(v);
+    if (!PyUnicode_Check(name)) {
+        PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+                     "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
+                     Py_TYPE(name)->tp_name);
+        return PyStackRef_NULL;
+    }
+
+    /* Fast path for types - can return deferred references */
+    if (tp->tp_getattro == _Py_type_getattro) {
+        _PyStackRef result = _Py_type_getattro_stackref((PyTypeObject *)v, name, NULL);
+        if (PyStackRef_IsNull(result)) {
+            _PyObject_SetAttributeErrorContext(v, name);
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    /* Fall back to regular PyObject_GetAttr and convert to stackref */
+    PyObject *result = NULL;
+    if (tp->tp_getattro != NULL) {
+        result = (*tp->tp_getattro)(v, name);
+    }
+    else if (tp->tp_getattr != NULL) {
+        const char *name_str = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(name);
+        if (name_str == NULL) {
+            return PyStackRef_NULL;
+        }
+        result = (*tp->tp_getattr)(v, (char *)name_str);
+    }
+    else {
+        PyErr_Format(PyExc_AttributeError,
+                    "'%.100s' object has no attribute '%U'",
+                    tp->tp_name, name);
+    }
+
+    if (result == NULL) {
+        _PyObject_SetAttributeErrorContext(v, name);
+        return PyStackRef_NULL;
+    }
+    return PyStackRef_FromPyObjectSteal(result);
+}
+
 int
 PyObject_GetOptionalAttr(PyObject *v, PyObject *name, PyObject **result)
 {