diff --git a/Doc/library/_dummy_thread.rst b/Doc/library/_dummy_thread.rst
index ebce74d5a22..7dccbc55475 100644
--- a/Doc/library/_dummy_thread.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/_dummy_thread.rst
@@ -6,18 +6,15 @@
 
 **Source code:** :source:`Lib/_dummy_thread.py`
 
+.. deprecated:: 3.7
+   Python now always has threading enabled.  Please use :mod:`_thread`
+   (or, better, :mod:`threading`) instead.
+
 --------------
 
-This module provides a duplicate interface to the :mod:`_thread` module.  It is
-meant to be imported when the :mod:`_thread` module is not provided on a
-platform.
-
-Suggested usage is::
-
-   try:
-       import _thread
-   except ImportError:
-       import _dummy_thread as _thread
+This module provides a duplicate interface to the :mod:`_thread` module.
+It was meant to be imported when the :mod:`_thread` module was not provided
+on a platform.
 
 Be careful to not use this module where deadlock might occur from a thread being
 created that blocks waiting for another thread to be created.  This often occurs
diff --git a/Doc/library/_thread.rst b/Doc/library/_thread.rst
index 0d2d818f5f9..67cb70944f4 100644
--- a/Doc/library/_thread.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/_thread.rst
@@ -23,14 +23,10 @@ threading API built on top of this module.
    single: pthreads
    pair: threads; POSIX
 
-The module is optional.  It is supported on Windows, Linux, SGI IRIX, Solaris
-2.x, as well as on systems that have a POSIX thread (a.k.a. "pthread")
-implementation.  For systems lacking the :mod:`_thread` module, the
-:mod:`_dummy_thread` module is available. It duplicates this module's interface
-and can be used as a drop-in replacement.
-
-It defines the following constants and functions:
+.. versionchanged:: 3.7
+   This module used to be optional, it is now always available.
 
+This module defines the following constants and functions:
 
 .. exception:: error
 
diff --git a/Doc/library/concurrency.rst b/Doc/library/concurrency.rst
index 0de281bd149..826bf86d081 100644
--- a/Doc/library/concurrency.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/concurrency.rst
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@ The following are support modules for some of the above services:
 
 .. toctree::
 
-   dummy_threading.rst
    _thread.rst
    _dummy_thread.rst
+   dummy_threading.rst
diff --git a/Doc/library/dummy_threading.rst b/Doc/library/dummy_threading.rst
index 30a3ebba674..dfc3289abb1 100644
--- a/Doc/library/dummy_threading.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/dummy_threading.rst
@@ -6,20 +6,15 @@
 
 **Source code:** :source:`Lib/dummy_threading.py`
 
+.. deprecated:: 3.7
+   Python now always has threading enabled.  Please use :mod:`threading` instead.
+
 --------------
 
-This module provides a duplicate interface to the :mod:`threading` module.  It
-is meant to be imported when the :mod:`_thread` module is not provided on a
-platform.
-
-Suggested usage is::
-
-   try:
-       import threading
-   except ImportError:
-       import dummy_threading as threading
+This module provides a duplicate interface to the :mod:`threading` module.
+It was meant to be imported when the :mod:`_thread` module was not provided
+on a platform.
 
 Be careful to not use this module where deadlock might occur from a thread being
 created that blocks waiting for another thread to be created.  This often occurs
 with blocking I/O.
-
diff --git a/Doc/library/threading.rst b/Doc/library/threading.rst
index 021e29e7124..8c3a2cd4f65 100644
--- a/Doc/library/threading.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/threading.rst
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 This module constructs higher-level threading interfaces on top of the lower
 level :mod:`_thread` module.  See also the :mod:`queue` module.
 
-The :mod:`dummy_threading` module is provided for situations where
-:mod:`threading` cannot be used because :mod:`_thread` is missing.
+.. versionchanged:: 3.7
+   This module used to be optional, it is now always available.
 
 .. note::
 
diff --git a/Lib/_dummy_thread.py b/Lib/_dummy_thread.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2cae54b058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/_dummy_thread.py
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+"""Drop-in replacement for the thread module.
+
+Meant to be used as a brain-dead substitute so that threaded code does
+not need to be rewritten for when the thread module is not present.
+
+Suggested usage is::
+
+    try:
+        import _thread
+    except ImportError:
+        import _dummy_thread as _thread
+
+"""
+# Exports only things specified by thread documentation;
+# skipping obsolete synonyms allocate(), start_new(), exit_thread().
+__all__ = ['error', 'start_new_thread', 'exit', 'get_ident', 'allocate_lock',
+           'interrupt_main', 'LockType']
+
+# A dummy value
+TIMEOUT_MAX = 2**31
+
+# NOTE: this module can be imported early in the extension building process,
+# and so top level imports of other modules should be avoided.  Instead, all
+# imports are done when needed on a function-by-function basis.  Since threads
+# are disabled, the import lock should not be an issue anyway (??).
+
+error = RuntimeError
+
+def start_new_thread(function, args, kwargs={}):
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread.start_new_thread().
+
+    Compatibility is maintained by making sure that ``args`` is a
+    tuple and ``kwargs`` is a dictionary.  If an exception is raised
+    and it is SystemExit (which can be done by _thread.exit()) it is
+    caught and nothing is done; all other exceptions are printed out
+    by using traceback.print_exc().
+
+    If the executed function calls interrupt_main the KeyboardInterrupt will be
+    raised when the function returns.
+
+    """
+    if type(args) != type(tuple()):
+        raise TypeError("2nd arg must be a tuple")
+    if type(kwargs) != type(dict()):
+        raise TypeError("3rd arg must be a dict")
+    global _main
+    _main = False
+    try:
+        function(*args, **kwargs)
+    except SystemExit:
+        pass
+    except:
+        import traceback
+        traceback.print_exc()
+    _main = True
+    global _interrupt
+    if _interrupt:
+        _interrupt = False
+        raise KeyboardInterrupt
+
+def exit():
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread.exit()."""
+    raise SystemExit
+
+def get_ident():
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread.get_ident().
+
+    Since this module should only be used when _threadmodule is not
+    available, it is safe to assume that the current process is the
+    only thread.  Thus a constant can be safely returned.
+    """
+    return 1
+
+def allocate_lock():
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread.allocate_lock()."""
+    return LockType()
+
+def stack_size(size=None):
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread.stack_size()."""
+    if size is not None:
+        raise error("setting thread stack size not supported")
+    return 0
+
+def _set_sentinel():
+    """Dummy implementation of _thread._set_sentinel()."""
+    return LockType()
+
+class LockType(object):
+    """Class implementing dummy implementation of _thread.LockType.
+
+    Compatibility is maintained by maintaining self.locked_status
+    which is a boolean that stores the state of the lock.  Pickling of
+    the lock, though, should not be done since if the _thread module is
+    then used with an unpickled ``lock()`` from here problems could
+    occur from this class not having atomic methods.
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.locked_status = False
+
+    def acquire(self, waitflag=None, timeout=-1):
+        """Dummy implementation of acquire().
+
+        For blocking calls, self.locked_status is automatically set to
+        True and returned appropriately based on value of
+        ``waitflag``.  If it is non-blocking, then the value is
+        actually checked and not set if it is already acquired.  This
+        is all done so that threading.Condition's assert statements
+        aren't triggered and throw a little fit.
+
+        """
+        if waitflag is None or waitflag:
+            self.locked_status = True
+            return True
+        else:
+            if not self.locked_status:
+                self.locked_status = True
+                return True
+            else:
+                if timeout > 0:
+                    import time
+                    time.sleep(timeout)
+                return False
+
+    __enter__ = acquire
+
+    def __exit__(self, typ, val, tb):
+        self.release()
+
+    def release(self):
+        """Release the dummy lock."""
+        # XXX Perhaps shouldn't actually bother to test?  Could lead
+        #     to problems for complex, threaded code.
+        if not self.locked_status:
+            raise error
+        self.locked_status = False
+        return True
+
+    def locked(self):
+        return self.locked_status
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return "<%s %s.%s object at %s>" % (
+            "locked" if self.locked_status else "unlocked",
+            self.__class__.__module__,
+            self.__class__.__qualname__,
+            hex(id(self))
+        )
+
+# Used to signal that interrupt_main was called in a "thread"
+_interrupt = False
+# True when not executing in a "thread"
+_main = True
+
+def interrupt_main():
+    """Set _interrupt flag to True to have start_new_thread raise
+    KeyboardInterrupt upon exiting."""
+    if _main:
+        raise KeyboardInterrupt
+    else:
+        global _interrupt
+        _interrupt = True
diff --git a/Lib/dummy_threading.py b/Lib/dummy_threading.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1bb7eee338a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/dummy_threading.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""Faux ``threading`` version using ``dummy_thread`` instead of ``thread``.
+
+The module ``_dummy_threading`` is added to ``sys.modules`` in order
+to not have ``threading`` considered imported.  Had ``threading`` been
+directly imported it would have made all subsequent imports succeed
+regardless of whether ``_thread`` was available which is not desired.
+
+"""
+from sys import modules as sys_modules
+
+import _dummy_thread
+
+# Declaring now so as to not have to nest ``try``s to get proper clean-up.
+holding_thread = False
+holding_threading = False
+holding__threading_local = False
+
+try:
+    # Could have checked if ``_thread`` was not in sys.modules and gone
+    # a different route, but decided to mirror technique used with
+    # ``threading`` below.
+    if '_thread' in sys_modules:
+        held_thread = sys_modules['_thread']
+        holding_thread = True
+    # Must have some module named ``_thread`` that implements its API
+    # in order to initially import ``threading``.
+    sys_modules['_thread'] = sys_modules['_dummy_thread']
+
+    if 'threading' in sys_modules:
+        # If ``threading`` is already imported, might as well prevent
+        # trying to import it more than needed by saving it if it is
+        # already imported before deleting it.
+        held_threading = sys_modules['threading']
+        holding_threading = True
+        del sys_modules['threading']
+
+    if '_threading_local' in sys_modules:
+        # If ``_threading_local`` is already imported, might as well prevent
+        # trying to import it more than needed by saving it if it is
+        # already imported before deleting it.
+        held__threading_local = sys_modules['_threading_local']
+        holding__threading_local = True
+        del sys_modules['_threading_local']
+
+    import threading
+    # Need a copy of the code kept somewhere...
+    sys_modules['_dummy_threading'] = sys_modules['threading']
+    del sys_modules['threading']
+    sys_modules['_dummy__threading_local'] = sys_modules['_threading_local']
+    del sys_modules['_threading_local']
+    from _dummy_threading import *
+    from _dummy_threading import __all__
+
+finally:
+    # Put back ``threading`` if we overwrote earlier
+
+    if holding_threading:
+        sys_modules['threading'] = held_threading
+        del held_threading
+    del holding_threading
+
+    # Put back ``_threading_local`` if we overwrote earlier
+
+    if holding__threading_local:
+        sys_modules['_threading_local'] = held__threading_local
+        del held__threading_local
+    del holding__threading_local
+
+    # Put back ``thread`` if we overwrote, else del the entry we made
+    if holding_thread:
+        sys_modules['_thread'] = held_thread
+        del held_thread
+    else:
+        del sys_modules['_thread']
+    del holding_thread
+
+    del _dummy_thread
+    del sys_modules
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_dummy_thread.py b/Lib/test/test_dummy_thread.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0840be67d56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_dummy_thread.py
@@ -0,0 +1,255 @@
+import _dummy_thread as _thread
+import time
+import queue
+import random
+import unittest
+from test import support
+from unittest import mock
+
+DELAY = 0
+
+
+class LockTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test lock objects."""
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        # Create a lock
+        self.lock = _thread.allocate_lock()
+
+    def test_initlock(self):
+        #Make sure locks start locked
+        self.assertFalse(self.lock.locked(),
+                        "Lock object is not initialized unlocked.")
+
+    def test_release(self):
+        # Test self.lock.release()
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        self.lock.release()
+        self.assertFalse(self.lock.locked(),
+                        "Lock object did not release properly.")
+
+    def test_LockType_context_manager(self):
+        with _thread.LockType():
+            pass
+        self.assertFalse(self.lock.locked(),
+                         "Acquired Lock was not released")
+
+    def test_improper_release(self):
+        #Make sure release of an unlocked thread raises RuntimeError
+        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, self.lock.release)
+
+    def test_cond_acquire_success(self):
+        #Make sure the conditional acquiring of the lock works.
+        self.assertTrue(self.lock.acquire(0),
+                        "Conditional acquiring of the lock failed.")
+
+    def test_cond_acquire_fail(self):
+        #Test acquiring locked lock returns False
+        self.lock.acquire(0)
+        self.assertFalse(self.lock.acquire(0),
+                        "Conditional acquiring of a locked lock incorrectly "
+                         "succeeded.")
+
+    def test_uncond_acquire_success(self):
+        #Make sure unconditional acquiring of a lock works.
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        self.assertTrue(self.lock.locked(),
+                        "Uncondional locking failed.")
+
+    def test_uncond_acquire_return_val(self):
+        #Make sure that an unconditional locking returns True.
+        self.assertIs(self.lock.acquire(1), True,
+                        "Unconditional locking did not return True.")
+        self.assertIs(self.lock.acquire(), True)
+
+    def test_uncond_acquire_blocking(self):
+        #Make sure that unconditional acquiring of a locked lock blocks.
+        def delay_unlock(to_unlock, delay):
+            """Hold on to lock for a set amount of time before unlocking."""
+            time.sleep(delay)
+            to_unlock.release()
+
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        start_time = int(time.time())
+        _thread.start_new_thread(delay_unlock,(self.lock, DELAY))
+        if support.verbose:
+            print()
+            print("*** Waiting for thread to release the lock "\
+            "(approx. %s sec.) ***" % DELAY)
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        end_time = int(time.time())
+        if support.verbose:
+            print("done")
+        self.assertGreaterEqual(end_time - start_time, DELAY,
+                        "Blocking by unconditional acquiring failed.")
+
+    @mock.patch('time.sleep')
+    def test_acquire_timeout(self, mock_sleep):
+        """Test invoking acquire() with a positive timeout when the lock is
+        already acquired. Ensure that time.sleep() is invoked with the given
+        timeout and that False is returned."""
+
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        retval = self.lock.acquire(waitflag=0, timeout=1)
+        self.assertTrue(mock_sleep.called)
+        mock_sleep.assert_called_once_with(1)
+        self.assertEqual(retval, False)
+
+    def test_lock_representation(self):
+        self.lock.acquire()
+        self.assertIn("locked", repr(self.lock))
+        self.lock.release()
+        self.assertIn("unlocked", repr(self.lock))
+
+
+class MiscTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Miscellaneous tests."""
+
+    def test_exit(self):
+        self.assertRaises(SystemExit, _thread.exit)
+
+    def test_ident(self):
+        self.assertIsInstance(_thread.get_ident(), int,
+                              "_thread.get_ident() returned a non-integer")
+        self.assertGreater(_thread.get_ident(), 0)
+
+    def test_LockType(self):
+        self.assertIsInstance(_thread.allocate_lock(), _thread.LockType,
+                              "_thread.LockType is not an instance of what "
+                              "is returned by _thread.allocate_lock()")
+
+    def test_set_sentinel(self):
+        self.assertIsInstance(_thread._set_sentinel(), _thread.LockType,
+                              "_thread._set_sentinel() did not return a "
+                              "LockType instance.")
+
+    def test_interrupt_main(self):
+        #Calling start_new_thread with a function that executes interrupt_main
+        # should raise KeyboardInterrupt upon completion.
+        def call_interrupt():
+            _thread.interrupt_main()
+
+        self.assertRaises(KeyboardInterrupt,
+                          _thread.start_new_thread,
+                          call_interrupt,
+                          tuple())
+
+    def test_interrupt_in_main(self):
+        self.assertRaises(KeyboardInterrupt, _thread.interrupt_main)
+
+    def test_stack_size_None(self):
+        retval = _thread.stack_size(None)
+        self.assertEqual(retval, 0)
+
+    def test_stack_size_not_None(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(_thread.error) as cm:
+            _thread.stack_size("")
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.args[0],
+                         "setting thread stack size not supported")
+
+
+class ThreadTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test thread creation."""
+
+    def test_arg_passing(self):
+        #Make sure that parameter passing works.
+        def arg_tester(queue, arg1=False, arg2=False):
+            """Use to test _thread.start_new_thread() passes args properly."""
+            queue.put((arg1, arg2))
+
+        testing_queue = queue.Queue(1)
+        _thread.start_new_thread(arg_tester, (testing_queue, True, True))
+        result = testing_queue.get()
+        self.assertTrue(result[0] and result[1],
+                        "Argument passing for thread creation "
+                        "using tuple failed")
+
+        _thread.start_new_thread(
+                arg_tester,
+                tuple(),
+                {'queue':testing_queue, 'arg1':True, 'arg2':True})
+
+        result = testing_queue.get()
+        self.assertTrue(result[0] and result[1],
+                        "Argument passing for thread creation "
+                        "using kwargs failed")
+
+        _thread.start_new_thread(
+                arg_tester,
+                (testing_queue, True),
+                {'arg2':True})
+
+        result = testing_queue.get()
+        self.assertTrue(result[0] and result[1],
+                        "Argument passing for thread creation using both tuple"
+                        " and kwargs failed")
+
+    def test_multi_thread_creation(self):
+        def queue_mark(queue, delay):
+            time.sleep(delay)
+            queue.put(_thread.get_ident())
+
+        thread_count = 5
+        testing_queue = queue.Queue(thread_count)
+
+        if support.verbose:
+            print()
+            print("*** Testing multiple thread creation "
+                  "(will take approx. %s to %s sec.) ***" % (
+                    DELAY, thread_count))
+
+        for count in range(thread_count):
+            if DELAY:
+                local_delay = round(random.random(), 1)
+            else:
+                local_delay = 0
+            _thread.start_new_thread(queue_mark,
+                                     (testing_queue, local_delay))
+        time.sleep(DELAY)
+        if support.verbose:
+            print('done')
+        self.assertEqual(testing_queue.qsize(), thread_count,
+                         "Not all %s threads executed properly "
+                         "after %s sec." % (thread_count, DELAY))
+
+    def test_args_not_tuple(self):
+        """
+        Test invoking start_new_thread() with a non-tuple value for "args".
+        Expect TypeError with a meaningful error message to be raised.
+        """
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError) as cm:
+            _thread.start_new_thread(mock.Mock(), [])
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.args[0], "2nd arg must be a tuple")
+
+    def test_kwargs_not_dict(self):
+        """
+        Test invoking start_new_thread() with a non-dict value for "kwargs".
+        Expect TypeError with a meaningful error message to be raised.
+        """
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError) as cm:
+            _thread.start_new_thread(mock.Mock(), tuple(), kwargs=[])
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.args[0], "3rd arg must be a dict")
+
+    def test_SystemExit(self):
+        """
+        Test invoking start_new_thread() with a function that raises
+        SystemExit.
+        The exception should be discarded.
+        """
+        func = mock.Mock(side_effect=SystemExit())
+        try:
+            _thread.start_new_thread(func, tuple())
+        except SystemExit:
+            self.fail("start_new_thread raised SystemExit.")
+
+    @mock.patch('traceback.print_exc')
+    def test_RaiseException(self, mock_print_exc):
+        """
+        Test invoking start_new_thread() with a function that raises exception.
+
+        The exception should be discarded and the traceback should be printed
+        via traceback.print_exc()
+        """
+        func = mock.Mock(side_effect=Exception)
+        _thread.start_new_thread(func, tuple())
+        self.assertTrue(mock_print_exc.called)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_dummy_threading.py b/Lib/test/test_dummy_threading.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a0c2972a60e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_dummy_threading.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+from test import support
+import unittest
+import dummy_threading as _threading
+import time
+
+class DummyThreadingTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    class TestThread(_threading.Thread):
+
+        def run(self):
+            global running
+            global sema
+            global mutex
+            # Uncomment if testing another module, such as the real 'threading'
+            # module.
+            #delay = random.random() * 2
+            delay = 0
+            if support.verbose:
+                print('task', self.name, 'will run for', delay, 'sec')
+            sema.acquire()
+            mutex.acquire()
+            running += 1
+            if support.verbose:
+                print(running, 'tasks are running')
+            mutex.release()
+            time.sleep(delay)
+            if support.verbose:
+                print('task', self.name, 'done')
+            mutex.acquire()
+            running -= 1
+            if support.verbose:
+                print(self.name, 'is finished.', running, 'tasks are running')
+            mutex.release()
+            sema.release()
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.numtasks = 10
+        global sema
+        sema = _threading.BoundedSemaphore(value=3)
+        global mutex
+        mutex = _threading.RLock()
+        global running
+        running = 0
+        self.threads = []
+
+    def test_tasks(self):
+        for i in range(self.numtasks):
+            t = self.TestThread(name="<thread %d>"%i)
+            self.threads.append(t)
+            t.start()
+
+        if support.verbose:
+            print('waiting for all tasks to complete')
+        for t in self.threads:
+            t.join()
+        if support.verbose:
+            print('all tasks done')
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()