diff --git a/Lib/rlcompleter.py b/Lib/rlcompleter.py
index d517c0e2d39..be8aee0f7e9 100644
--- a/Lib/rlcompleter.py
+++ b/Lib/rlcompleter.py
@@ -136,20 +136,23 @@ class Completer:
             return []
 
         # get the content of the object, except __builtins__
-        words = dir(thisobject)
-        if "__builtins__" in words:
-            words.remove("__builtins__")
+        words = set(dir(thisobject))
+        words.discard("__builtins__")
 
         if hasattr(thisobject, '__class__'):
-            words.append('__class__')
-            words.extend(get_class_members(thisobject.__class__))
+            words.add('__class__')
+            words.update(get_class_members(thisobject.__class__))
         matches = []
         n = len(attr)
         for word in words:
-            if word[:n] == attr and hasattr(thisobject, word):
-                val = getattr(thisobject, word)
+            if word[:n] == attr:
+                try:
+                    val = getattr(thisobject, word)
+                except Exception:
+                    continue  # Exclude properties that are not set
                 word = self._callable_postfix(val, "%s.%s" % (expr, word))
                 matches.append(word)
+        matches.sort()
         return matches
 
 def get_class_members(klass):
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_rlcompleter.py b/Lib/test/test_rlcompleter.py
index d37b620b7a4..2022ed6e118 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_rlcompleter.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_rlcompleter.py
@@ -64,6 +64,19 @@ class TestRlcompleter(unittest.TestCase):
                          ['egg.{}('.format(x) for x in dir(str)
                           if x.startswith('s')])
 
+    def test_excessive_getattr(self):
+        # Ensure getattr() is invoked no more than once per attribute
+        class Foo:
+            calls = 0
+            @property
+            def bar(self):
+                self.calls += 1
+                return None
+        f = Foo()
+        completer = rlcompleter.Completer(dict(f=f))
+        self.assertEqual(completer.complete('f.b', 0), 'f.bar')
+        self.assertEqual(f.calls, 1)
+
     def test_complete(self):
         completer = rlcompleter.Completer()
         self.assertEqual(completer.complete('', 0), '\t')
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index c766615d741..2b312e8f407 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #25590: In the Readline completer, only call getattr() once per
+  attribute.
+
 - Issue #25498: Fix a crash when garbage-collecting ctypes objects created
   by wrapping a memoryview.  This was a regression made in 3.5a1.  Based
   on patch by Eryksun.