diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f3a72ef9..9469c574 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 <!-- insertion marker -->
+## [1.14.4](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/releases/tag/1.14.4) - 2025-02-04
+
+<small>[Compare with 1.14.3](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/compare/1.14.3...1.14.4)</small>
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+- Deactivate Pydantic validation on Python 3.9 is `eval-type-backport` is not available (for modern typing syntax support) ([0de0e5e](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/commit/0de0e5e57f8f22e039b0d19aad6341ce7ab3da9f) by Timothée Mazzucotelli). [Issue-241](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/issues/241)
+
 ## [1.14.3](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/releases/tag/1.14.3) - 2025-02-04
 
 <small>[Compare with 1.14.2](https://github.com/mkdocstrings/python/compare/1.14.2...1.14.3)</small>
diff --git a/src/mkdocstrings_handlers/python/config.py b/src/mkdocstrings_handlers/python/config.py
index fa8aa009..3bab3920 100644
--- a/src/mkdocstrings_handlers/python/config.py
+++ b/src/mkdocstrings_handlers/python/config.py
@@ -7,12 +7,18 @@
 from dataclasses import field, fields
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Annotated, Any, Literal
 
+from mkdocstrings.loggers import get_logger
+
 # YORE: EOL 3.10: Replace block with line 2.
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 11):
     from typing import Self
 else:
     from typing_extensions import Self
 
+
+logger = get_logger(__name__)
+
+
 try:
     # When Pydantic is available, use it to validate options (done automatically).
     # Users can therefore opt into validation by installing Pydantic in development/CI.
@@ -30,6 +36,17 @@
     if getattr(pydantic, "__version__", "1.").startswith("1."):
         raise ImportError  # noqa: TRY301
 
+    if sys.version_info < (3, 10):
+        try:
+            import eval_type_backport  # noqa: F401
+        except ImportError:
+            logger.debug(
+                "Pydantic needs the `eval-type-backport` package to be installed "
+                "for modern type syntax to work on Python 3.9. "
+                "Deactivating Pydantic validation for Python handler options.",
+            )
+            raise
+
     from inspect import cleandoc
 
     from pydantic import Field as BaseField