diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-01-21-18-03-09.bpo-42888.0oAR2x.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-01-21-18-03-09.bpo-42888.0oAR2x.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..d77cafcb961ec05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-01-21-18-03-09.bpo-42888.0oAR2x.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Remove calls of :c:func:`PyThread_exit_thread()` from top-level thread
+functions, thereby avoiding a runtime dependency on ``libgcc_s.so`` and
+associated issues with lazy-loading it via ``dlopen()`` in typical scenarios
+on glibc-based Linux systems.
diff --git a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
index 4f97927fa232298..0b8d8b3cdc07c0e 100644
--- a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
@@ -4512,8 +4512,6 @@ temporary_c_thread(void *data)
     PyGILState_Release(state);
 
     PyThread_release_lock(test_c_thread->exit_event);
-
-    PyThread_exit_thread();
 }
 
 static PyObject *
diff --git a/Modules/_threadmodule.c b/Modules/_threadmodule.c
index 9b8757715a0b9b1..2e1fff3ad92e95e 100644
--- a/Modules/_threadmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_threadmodule.c
@@ -1087,8 +1087,6 @@ thread_run(void *boot_raw)
     tstate->interp->num_threads--;
     PyThreadState_Clear(tstate);
     _PyThreadState_DeleteCurrent(tstate);
-
-    PyThread_exit_thread();
 }
 
 static PyObject *
diff --git a/Programs/_testembed.c b/Programs/_testembed.c
index 52c56746813a348..87a1da30982341f 100644
--- a/Programs/_testembed.c
+++ b/Programs/_testembed.c
@@ -241,8 +241,6 @@ static void bpo20891_thread(void *lockp)
     PyGILState_Release(state);
 
     PyThread_release_lock(lock);
-
-    PyThread_exit_thread();
 }
 
 static int test_bpo20891(void)
diff --git a/Python/thread_nt.h b/Python/thread_nt.h
index 05b982d32dc5260..6c7d93d75bf1fca 100644
--- a/Python/thread_nt.h
+++ b/Python/thread_nt.h
@@ -160,6 +160,13 @@ PyThread__init_thread(void)
  * Thread support.
  */
 
+static void
+_pythread_at_thread_exit(void)
+{
+    dprintf(("%lu: _pythread_at_thread_exit called\n",
+            PyThread_get_thread_ident()));
+}
+
 typedef struct {
     void (*func)(void*);
     void *arg;
@@ -175,6 +182,7 @@ bootstrap(void *call)
     void *arg = obj->arg;
     HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, obj);
     func(arg);
+    _pythread_at_thread_exit();
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -254,7 +262,7 @@ PyThread_get_thread_native_id(void)
 void _Py_NO_RETURN
 PyThread_exit_thread(void)
 {
-    dprintf(("%lu: PyThread_exit_thread called\n", PyThread_get_thread_ident()));
+    _pythread_at_thread_exit();
     if (!initialized)
         exit(0);
     _endthreadex(0);
diff --git a/Python/thread_pthread.h b/Python/thread_pthread.h
index ec7d737518b68c6..60bbe2b232d03b7 100644
--- a/Python/thread_pthread.h
+++ b/Python/thread_pthread.h
@@ -218,6 +218,12 @@ PyThread__init_thread(void)
  * Thread support.
  */
 
+static void
+_pythread_at_thread_exit(void)
+{
+    dprintf(("_pythread_at_thread_exit called\n"));
+}
+
 /* bpo-33015: pythread_callback struct and pythread_wrapper() cast
    "void func(void *)" to "void* func(void *)": always return NULL.
 
@@ -238,6 +244,7 @@ pythread_wrapper(void *arg)
     PyMem_RawFree(arg);
 
     func(func_arg);
+    _pythread_at_thread_exit();
     return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -359,7 +366,7 @@ PyThread_get_thread_native_id(void)
 void _Py_NO_RETURN
 PyThread_exit_thread(void)
 {
-    dprintf(("PyThread_exit_thread called\n"));
+    _pythread_at_thread_exit();
     if (!initialized)
         exit(0);
     pthread_exit(0);