diff --git a/Include/cpython/pythonrun.h b/Include/cpython/pythonrun.h
index 4945d924558..febda73f3ec 100644
--- a/Include/cpython/pythonrun.h
+++ b/Include/cpython/pythonrun.h
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
 #endif
 
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyRun_SimpleStringFlags(const char *, PyCompilerFlags *);
+PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyRun_SimpleFileObject(
+    FILE *fp,
+    PyObject *filename,
+    int closeit,
+    PyCompilerFlags *flags);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyRun_AnyFileExFlags(
     FILE *fp,
     const char *filename,       /* decoded from the filesystem encoding */
diff --git a/Modules/main.c b/Modules/main.c
index 2cc891f61aa..3aa4d91c9a3 100644
--- a/Modules/main.c
+++ b/Modules/main.c
@@ -380,64 +380,51 @@ static int
 pymain_run_startup(PyConfig *config, PyCompilerFlags *cf, int *exitcode)
 {
     int ret;
-    PyObject *startup_obj = NULL;
     if (!config->use_environment) {
         return 0;
     }
+    PyObject *startup = NULL;
 #ifdef MS_WINDOWS
-    const wchar_t *wstartup = _wgetenv(L"PYTHONSTARTUP");
-    if (wstartup == NULL || wstartup[0] == L'\0') {
+    const wchar_t *env = _wgetenv(L"PYTHONSTARTUP");
+    if (env == NULL || env[0] == L'\0') {
         return 0;
     }
-    PyObject *startup_bytes = NULL;
-    startup_obj = PyUnicode_FromWideChar(wstartup, wcslen(wstartup));
-    if (startup_obj == NULL) {
-        goto error;
-    }
-    startup_bytes = PyUnicode_EncodeFSDefault(startup_obj);
-    if (startup_bytes == NULL) {
-        goto error;
-    }
-    const char *startup = PyBytes_AS_STRING(startup_bytes);
-#else
-    const char *startup = _Py_GetEnv(config->use_environment, "PYTHONSTARTUP");
+    startup = PyUnicode_FromWideChar(env, wcslen(env));
     if (startup == NULL) {
+        goto error;
+    }
+#else
+    const char *env = _Py_GetEnv(config->use_environment, "PYTHONSTARTUP");
+    if (env == NULL) {
         return 0;
     }
-    startup_obj = PyUnicode_DecodeFSDefault(startup);
-    if (startup_obj == NULL) {
+    startup = PyUnicode_DecodeFSDefault(env);
+    if (startup == NULL) {
         goto error;
     }
 #endif
-    if (PySys_Audit("cpython.run_startup", "O", startup_obj) < 0) {
+    if (PySys_Audit("cpython.run_startup", "O", startup) < 0) {
         goto error;
     }
 
-#ifdef MS_WINDOWS
-    FILE *fp = _Py_wfopen(wstartup, L"r");
-#else
-    FILE *fp = _Py_fopen(startup, "r");
-#endif
+    FILE *fp = _Py_fopen_obj(startup, "r");
     if (fp == NULL) {
         int save_errno = errno;
         PyErr_Clear();
         PySys_WriteStderr("Could not open PYTHONSTARTUP\n");
 
         errno = save_errno;
-        PyErr_SetFromErrnoWithFilenameObjects(PyExc_OSError, startup_obj, NULL);
+        PyErr_SetFromErrnoWithFilenameObjects(PyExc_OSError, startup, NULL);
         goto error;
     }
 
-    (void) PyRun_SimpleFileExFlags(fp, startup, 0, cf);
+    (void) _PyRun_SimpleFileObject(fp, startup, 0, cf);
     PyErr_Clear();
     fclose(fp);
     ret = 0;
 
 done:
-#ifdef MS_WINDOWS
-    Py_XDECREF(startup_bytes);
-#endif
-    Py_XDECREF(startup_obj);
+    Py_XDECREF(startup);
     return ret;
 
 error:
diff --git a/Python/pythonrun.c b/Python/pythonrun.c
index 330b822d707..15e407d9195 100644
--- a/Python/pythonrun.c
+++ b/Python/pythonrun.c
@@ -350,9 +350,9 @@ set_main_loader(PyObject *d, PyObject *filename, const char *loader_name)
 }
 
 
-static int
-pyrun_simple_file(FILE *fp, PyObject *filename, int closeit,
-                  PyCompilerFlags *flags)
+int
+_PyRun_SimpleFileObject(FILE *fp, PyObject *filename, int closeit,
+                        PyCompilerFlags *flags)
 {
     PyObject *m, *d, *v;
     int set_file_name = 0, ret = -1;
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ PyRun_SimpleFileExFlags(FILE *fp, const char *filename, int closeit,
     if (filename_obj == NULL) {
         return -1;
     }
-    int res = pyrun_simple_file(fp, filename_obj, closeit, flags);
+    int res = _PyRun_SimpleFileObject(fp, filename_obj, closeit, flags);
     Py_DECREF(filename_obj);
     return res;
 }