diff --git a/Lib/collections/__init__.py b/Lib/collections/__init__.py
index d06d84cbdfc..d29afffebf8 100644
--- a/Lib/collections/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/collections/__init__.py
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ __all__ = [
 import _collections_abc
 import sys as _sys
 
+_sys.modules['collections.abc'] = _collections_abc
+abc = _collections_abc
+
 from itertools import chain as _chain
 from itertools import repeat as _repeat
 from itertools import starmap as _starmap
diff --git a/Lib/collections/abc.py b/Lib/collections/abc.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 034ba377a0d..00000000000
--- a/Lib/collections/abc.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-import _collections_abc
-import sys
-sys.modules[__name__] = _collections_abc
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-10-11-00-40-13.gh-issue-125245.8vReM-.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-10-11-00-40-13.gh-issue-125245.8vReM-.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c880efe73d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-10-11-00-40-13.gh-issue-125245.8vReM-.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix race condition when importing :mod:`collections.abc`, which could
+incorrectly return an empty module.