diff --git a/Objects/stringobject.c b/Objects/stringobject.c
index cb781ed6453..bf5056e586b 100644
--- a/Objects/stringobject.c
+++ b/Objects/stringobject.c
@@ -401,6 +401,13 @@ string_repr(register PyStringObject *op)
 	}
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+string_str(PyObject *s)
+{
+	Py_INCREF(s);
+	return s;
+}
+
 static int
 string_length(PyStringObject *a)
 {
@@ -2374,7 +2381,7 @@ PyTypeObject PyString_Type = {
 	0,		/*tp_as_mapping*/
 	(hashfunc)string_hash, /*tp_hash*/
 	0,		/*tp_call*/
-	0,		/*tp_str*/
+	(reprfunc)string_str,	/*tp_str*/
 	0,		/*tp_getattro*/
 	0,		/*tp_setattro*/
 	&string_as_buffer,	/*tp_as_buffer*/