diff --git a/Lib/pydoc.py b/Lib/pydoc.py
index 2dee6eee23d..cc43684f191 100755
--- a/Lib/pydoc.py
+++ b/Lib/pydoc.py
@@ -1417,6 +1417,8 @@ def pager(text):
 
 def getpager():
     """Decide what method to use for paging through text."""
+    if not hasattr(sys.stdin, "isatty"):
+        return plainpager
     if not hasattr(sys.stdout, "isatty"):
         return plainpager
     if not sys.stdin.isatty() or not sys.stdout.isatty():
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py b/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
index 188c4c26feb..542b433cb6e 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
@@ -446,6 +446,14 @@ class PydocDocTest(unittest.TestCase):
         result, doc_loc = get_pydoc_text(xml.etree)
         self.assertEqual(doc_loc, "", "MODULE DOCS incorrectly includes a link")
 
+    def test_getpager_with_stdin_none(self):
+        previous_stdin = sys.stdin
+        try:
+            sys.stdin = None
+            pydoc.getpager() # Shouldn't fail.
+        finally:
+            sys.stdin = previous_stdin
+
     def test_non_str_name(self):
         # issue14638
         # Treat illegal (non-str) name like no name
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 57090b65624..6979b2f107c 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #11709: Fix the pydoc.help function to not fail when sys.stdin is not a
+  valid file.
+
 - Issue #13223: Fix pydoc.writedoc so that the HTML documentation for methods
   that use 'self' in the example code is generated correctly.