diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-01-30-14-36-31.bpo-39502.IJu0rl.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-01-30-14-36-31.bpo-39502.IJu0rl.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..93b3639c80c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2020-01-30-14-36-31.bpo-39502.IJu0rl.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix :func:`time.localtime` on 64-bit AIX  to support years before 1902 and after 2038.
+Patch by M Felt.
diff --git a/Python/pytime.c b/Python/pytime.c
index 54ddfc952b8..9b2b74af5c0 100644
--- a/Python/pytime.c
+++ b/Python/pytime.c
@@ -1059,7 +1059,7 @@ _PyTime_localtime(time_t t, struct tm *tm)
     return 0;
 #else /* !MS_WINDOWS */
 
-#ifdef _AIX
+#if defined(_AIX) && (SIZEOF_TIME_T < 8)
     /* bpo-34373: AIX does not return NULL if t is too small or too large */
     if (t < -2145916800 /* 1902-01-01 */
        || t > 2145916800 /* 2038-01-01 */) {