diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-04-07-15-44-29.bpo-37388.stlxBq.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-04-07-15-44-29.bpo-37388.stlxBq.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..1da58d111912c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-04-07-15-44-29.bpo-37388.stlxBq.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+str.encode() and str.decode() no longer check the encoding and errors in
+development mode or in debug mode during Python finalization. The codecs
+machinery can no longer work on very late calls to str.encode() and
+str.decode().
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index 9d51c8a685ebed..da17bfe01f3100 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -451,6 +451,12 @@ unicode_check_encoding_errors(const char *encoding, const char *errors)
         return 0;
     }
 
+    /* Disable checks during Python finalization. For example, it allows to
+       call _PyObject_Dump() during finalization for debugging purpose. */
+    if (interp->finalizing) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     if (encoding != NULL) {
         PyObject *handler = _PyCodec_Lookup(encoding);
         if (handler == NULL) {