diff --git a/Lib/test/test_import.py b/Lib/test/test_import.py
index e50cd53..6f935c7 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_import.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_import.py
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@
 import sys
 import unittest
 import warnings
+import textwrap
 
 from test.support import (
     EnvironmentVarGuard, TESTFN, forget, is_jython,
     rmtree, run_unittest, unlink, unload)
+from test import script_helper
 
 
 def remove_files(name):
@@ -284,6 +286,17 @@
         else:
             self.fail("import by path didn't raise an exception")
 
+    def test_import_in_del_does_not_crash(self):
+        # Issue 4236
+        testfn = script_helper.make_script('', TESTFN, textwrap.dedent("""\
+            import sys
+            class C:
+               def __del__(self):
+                  import imp
+            sys.argv.insert(0, C())
+            """))
+        script_helper.assert_python_ok(testfn)
+
 
 class PycRewritingTests(unittest.TestCase):
     # Test that the `co_filename` attribute on code objects always points
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 6b6dcba..cd670e7 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #4236: PyModule_Create2 now checks the import machinery directly
+  rather than the Py_IsInitialized flag, avoiding a Fatal Python
+  error in certain circumstances when an import is done in __del__.
+
 - Issue #10596: Fix float.__mod__ to have the same behaviour as
   float.__divmod__ with respect to signed zeros.  -4.0 % 4.0 should be
   0.0, not -0.0.
diff --git a/Objects/moduleobject.c b/Objects/moduleobject.c
index 5dd9c01..d96d7bd 100644
--- a/Objects/moduleobject.c
+++ b/Objects/moduleobject.c
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@
     PyMethodDef *ml;
     const char* name;
     PyModuleObject *m;
-    if (!Py_IsInitialized())
-        Py_FatalError("Interpreter not initialized (version mismatch?)");
+    PyInterpreterState *interp = PyThreadState_Get()->interp;
+    if (interp->modules == NULL)
+        Py_FatalError("Python import machinery not initialized");
     if (PyType_Ready(&moduledef_type) < 0)
         return NULL;
     if (module->m_base.m_index == 0) {