Issue #7027: regrtest.py keeps a reference to the encodings.ascii module as a

workaround to #7140 bug

Lib/test/regrtest.py

@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@ import sys
 import time
 import traceback
 import warnings
+# keep a reference to the ascii module to workaround #7140 bug
+# (see issue #7027)
+import encodings.ascii
 
 # I see no other way to suppress these warnings;
 # putting them in test_grammar.py has no effect:

Misc/NEWS

@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ Build
 Tests
 -----
 
+- Issue #7027: regrtest.py keeps a reference to the encodings.ascii module as a
+  workaround to #7140 bug
+
 - Issue #3864: Skip three test_signal tests on freebsd6 because they fail
   if any thread was previously started, most likely due to a platform bug.