diff --git a/Lib/test/test_clinic.py b/Lib/test/test_clinic.py
index 80b9aec..4aa9691 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_clinic.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_clinic.py
@@ -795,17 +795,29 @@ class ClinicExternalTest(TestCase):
     maxDiff = None
 
     def test_external(self):
+        # bpo-42398: Test that the destination file is left unchanged if the
+        # content does not change. Moreover, check also that the file
+        # modification time does not change in this case.
         source = support.findfile('clinic.test')
         with open(source, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-            original = f.read()
-        with os_helper.temp_dir() as testdir:
-            testfile = os.path.join(testdir, 'clinic.test.c')
+            orig_contents = f.read()
+
+        with os_helper.temp_dir() as tmp_dir:
+            testfile = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'clinic.test.c')
             with open(testfile, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-                f.write(original)
-            clinic.parse_file(testfile, force=True)
+                f.write(orig_contents)
+            old_mtime_ns = os.stat(testfile).st_mtime_ns
+
+            clinic.parse_file(testfile)
+
             with open(testfile, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-                result = f.read()
-            self.assertEqual(result, original)
+                new_contents = f.read()
+            new_mtime_ns = os.stat(testfile).st_mtime_ns
+
+        self.assertEqual(new_contents, orig_contents)
+        # Don't change the file modification time
+        # if the content does not change
+        self.assertEqual(new_mtime_ns, old_mtime_ns)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2020-11-18-11-58-44.bpo-42398.Yt5wO8.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2020-11-18-11-58-44.bpo-42398.Yt5wO8.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ab99d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2020-11-18-11-58-44.bpo-42398.Yt5wO8.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Fix a race condition in "make regen-all" when make -jN option is used to run
+jobs in parallel. The clinic.py script now only use atomic write to write
+files. Moveover, generated files are now left unchanged if the content does not
+change, to not change the file modification time.
diff --git a/Tools/clinic/clinic.py b/Tools/clinic/clinic.py
index 5f2eb53..d4d7795 100755
--- a/Tools/clinic/clinic.py
+++ b/Tools/clinic/clinic.py
@@ -1777,6 +1777,30 @@ def dump(self):
 # The callable should not call builtins.print.
 return_converters = {}
 
+
+def write_file(filename, new_contents):
+    try:
+        with open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf-8") as fp:
+            old_contents = fp.read()
+
+        if old_contents == new_contents:
+            # no change: avoid modifying the file modification time
+            return
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        pass
+
+    # Atomic write using a temporary file and os.replace()
+    filename_new = f"{filename}.new"
+    with open(filename_new, "w", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
+        fp.write(new_contents)
+
+    try:
+        os.replace(filename_new, filename)
+    except:
+        os.unlink(filename_new)
+        raise
+
+
 clinic = None
 class Clinic:
 
@@ -1823,7 +1847,7 @@ class Clinic:
 
 """
 
-    def __init__(self, language, printer=None, *, force=False, verify=True, filename=None):
+    def __init__(self, language, printer=None, *, verify=True, filename=None):
         # maps strings to Parser objects.
         # (instantiated from the "parsers" global.)
         self.parsers = {}
@@ -1832,7 +1856,6 @@ def __init__(self, language, printer=None, *, force=False, verify=True, filename
             fail("Custom printers are broken right now")
         self.printer = printer or BlockPrinter(language)
         self.verify = verify
-        self.force = force
         self.filename = filename
         self.modules = collections.OrderedDict()
         self.classes = collections.OrderedDict()
@@ -1965,8 +1988,7 @@ def parse(self, input):
                     block.input = 'preserve\n'
                     printer_2 = BlockPrinter(self.language)
                     printer_2.print_block(block)
-                    with open(destination.filename, "wt") as f:
-                        f.write(printer_2.f.getvalue())
+                    write_file(destination.filename, printer_2.f.getvalue())
                     continue
         text = printer.f.getvalue()
 
@@ -2018,7 +2040,10 @@ def _module_and_class(self, fields):
         return module, cls
 
 
-def parse_file(filename, *, force=False, verify=True, output=None, encoding='utf-8'):
+def parse_file(filename, *, verify=True, output=None):
+    if not output:
+        output = filename
+
     extension = os.path.splitext(filename)[1][1:]
     if not extension:
         fail("Can't extract file type for file " + repr(filename))
@@ -2028,7 +2053,7 @@ def parse_file(filename, *, force=False, verify=True, output=None, encoding='utf
     except KeyError:
         fail("Can't identify file type for file " + repr(filename))
 
-    with open(filename, 'r', encoding=encoding) as f:
+    with open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf-8") as f:
         raw = f.read()
 
     # exit quickly if there are no clinic markers in the file
@@ -2036,19 +2061,10 @@ def parse_file(filename, *, force=False, verify=True, output=None, encoding='utf
     if not find_start_re.search(raw):
         return
 
-    clinic = Clinic(language, force=force, verify=verify, filename=filename)
+    clinic = Clinic(language, verify=verify, filename=filename)
     cooked = clinic.parse(raw)
-    if (cooked == raw) and not force:
-        return
 
-    directory = os.path.dirname(filename) or '.'
-
-    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="clinic", dir=directory) as tmpdir:
-        bytes = cooked.encode(encoding)
-        tmpfilename = os.path.join(tmpdir, os.path.basename(filename))
-        with open(tmpfilename, "wb") as f:
-            f.write(bytes)
-        os.replace(tmpfilename, output or filename)
+    write_file(output, cooked)
 
 
 def compute_checksum(input, length=None):
@@ -5105,7 +5121,7 @@ def main(argv):
                 path = os.path.join(root, filename)
                 if ns.verbose:
                     print(path)
-                parse_file(path, force=ns.force, verify=not ns.force)
+                parse_file(path, verify=not ns.force)
         return
 
     if not ns.filename:
@@ -5121,7 +5137,7 @@ def main(argv):
     for filename in ns.filename:
         if ns.verbose:
             print(filename)
-        parse_file(filename, output=ns.output, force=ns.force, verify=not ns.force)
+        parse_file(filename, output=ns.output, verify=not ns.force)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":