diff --git a/Include/object.h b/Include/object.h
index 0266d25230a2b4..e59f78789844e7 100644
--- a/Include/object.h
+++ b/Include/object.h
@@ -1130,8 +1130,13 @@ PyAPI_DATA(PyObject) _Py_NotImplementedStruct; /* Don't use this directly */
 #  define Py_NotImplemented (&_Py_NotImplementedStruct)
 #endif
 
-/* Macro for returning Py_NotImplemented from a function */
-#define Py_RETURN_NOTIMPLEMENTED return Py_NotImplemented
+/* Macro for returning Py_NotImplemented from a function. Only treat
+ * Py_NotImplemented as immortal in the limited C API 3.12 and newer. */
+#if defined(Py_LIMITED_API) && Py_LIMITED_API+0 < 0x030c0000
+#  define Py_RETURN_NOTIMPLEMENTED return Py_NewRef(Py_NotImplemented)
+#else
+#  define Py_RETURN_NOTIMPLEMENTED return Py_NotImplemented
+#endif
 
 /* Rich comparison opcodes */
 #define Py_LT 0
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C API/2025-10-26-16-45-06.gh-issue-140487.fGOqss.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C API/2025-10-26-16-45-06.gh-issue-140487.fGOqss.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..16b0d9d4084ba0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C API/2025-10-26-16-45-06.gh-issue-140487.fGOqss.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix :c:macro:`Py_RETURN_NOTIMPLEMENTED` in limited C API 3.11 and older:
+don't treat ``Py_NotImplemented`` as immortal. Patch by Victor Stinner.