diff --git a/Lib/test/test_gdb.py b/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
index c2ca57a..93a2c7d 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_gdb.py
@@ -321,7 +321,20 @@
 
     def test_strings(self):
         'Verify the pretty-printing of unicode strings'
-        encoding = locale.getpreferredencoding()
+        # We cannot simply call locale.getpreferredencoding() here,
+        # as GDB might have been linked against a different version
+        # of Python with a different encoding and coercion policy
+        # with respect to PEP 538 and PEP 540.
+        out, err = run_gdb(
+            '--eval-command',
+            'python import locale; print(locale.getpreferredencoding())')
+
+        encoding = out.rstrip()
+        if err or not encoding:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f'unable to determine the preferred encoding '
+                f'of embedded Python in GDB: {err}')
+
         def check_repr(text):
             try:
                 text.encode(encoding)