diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-11-23-19-45-49.gh-issue-141890.99IS5Y.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-11-23-19-45-49.gh-issue-141890.99IS5Y.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..0e6c4dd907dddd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-11-23-19-45-49.gh-issue-141890.99IS5Y.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix an issue where garbage collection could run less frequently than
+expected.
diff --git a/Python/gc.c b/Python/gc.c
index d067a6144b0763..b1bf308b9c4f73 100644
--- a/Python/gc.c
+++ b/Python/gc.c
@@ -1618,7 +1618,6 @@ mark_at_start(PyThreadState *tstate)
     PyGC_Head *visited = &gcstate->old[gcstate->visited_space].head;
     Py_ssize_t objects_marked = mark_global_roots(tstate->interp, visited, gcstate->visited_space);
     objects_marked += mark_stacks(tstate->interp, visited, gcstate->visited_space, true);
-    gcstate->work_to_do -= objects_marked;
     gcstate->phase = GC_PHASE_COLLECT;
     validate_spaces(gcstate);
     return objects_marked;