diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
index 1bf27d7..6572a55 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
@@ -790,11 +790,13 @@
         }
         statement_completed = 1;
 
+        Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
         rc = sqlite3_prepare(self->connection->db,
                              script_cstr,
                              -1,
                              &statement,
                              &script_cstr);
+        Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         if (rc != SQLITE_OK) {
             _pysqlite_seterror(self->connection->db, NULL);
             goto error;
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
index dae83d4..f200c56 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
@@ -79,11 +79,13 @@
 
     sql_cstr = PyString_AsString(sql_str);
 
+    Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
     rc = sqlite3_prepare(connection->db,
                          sql_cstr,
                          -1,
                          &self->st,
                          &tail);
+    Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
 
     self->db = connection->db;
 
@@ -328,11 +330,13 @@
 
     sql_cstr = PyString_AsString(self->sql);
 
+    Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
     rc = sqlite3_prepare(self->db,
                          sql_cstr,
                          -1,
                          &new_st,
                          &tail);
+    Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
 
     if (rc == SQLITE_OK) {
         /* The efficient sqlite3_transfer_bindings is only available in SQLite