diff --git a/Lib/pickle.py b/Lib/pickle.py
index 998fce0a6bb..a4acbe941e0 100644
--- a/Lib/pickle.py
+++ b/Lib/pickle.py
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ class _Unpickler:
         orig = self.readline()
         rep = orig[:-1]
         # Strip outermost quotes
-        if rep[0] == rep[-1] and rep[0] in b'"\'':
+        if len(rep) >= 2 and rep[0] == rep[-1] and rep[0] in b'"\'':
             rep = rep[1:-1]
         else:
             raise ValueError("insecure string pickle")
diff --git a/Lib/test/pickletester.py b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
index 5d12375267b..a72ab377c01 100644
--- a/Lib/test/pickletester.py
+++ b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
@@ -609,6 +609,14 @@ class AbstractPickleTests(unittest.TestCase):
                     b"'abc\"", # open quote and close quote don't match
                     b"'abc'   ?", # junk after close quote
                     b"'\\'", # trailing backslash
+                    # Variations on issue #17710
+                    b"'",
+                    b'"',
+                    b"' ",
+                    b"'  ",
+                    b"'   ",
+                    b"'    ",
+                    b'"    ',
                     # some tests of the quoting rules
                     ## b"'abc\"\''",
                     ## b"'\\\\a\'\'\'\\\'\\\\\''",
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 5852ff2ecdd..6393f6cc7a1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #17710: Fix pickle raising a SystemError on bogus input.
+
 - Issue #17341: Include the invalid name in the error messages from re about
   invalid group names.
 
diff --git a/Modules/_pickle.c b/Modules/_pickle.c
index 146dccca443..2c83185dde9 100644
--- a/Modules/_pickle.c
+++ b/Modules/_pickle.c
@@ -4205,7 +4205,7 @@ load_string(UnpicklerObject *self)
 
     if ((len = _Unpickler_Readline(self, &s)) < 0)
         return -1;
-    if (len < 3)
+    if (len < 2)
         return bad_readline();
     if ((s = strdup(s)) == NULL) {
         PyErr_NoMemory();
@@ -4213,14 +4213,14 @@ load_string(UnpicklerObject *self)
     }
 
     /* Strip outermost quotes */
-    while (s[len - 1] <= ' ')
+    while (len > 0 && s[len - 1] <= ' ')
         len--;
-    if (s[0] == '"' && s[len - 1] == '"') {
+    if (len > 1 && s[0] == '"' && s[len - 1] == '"') {
         s[len - 1] = '\0';
         p = s + 1;
         len -= 2;
     }
-    else if (s[0] == '\'' && s[len - 1] == '\'') {
+    else if (len > 1 && s[0] == '\'' && s[len - 1] == '\'') {
         s[len - 1] = '\0';
         p = s + 1;
         len -= 2;