diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-25-10-07-54.gh-issue-152156.gscPU9.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-25-10-07-54.gh-issue-152156.gscPU9.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..7b45a843b8f43b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-25-10-07-54.gh-issue-152156.gscPU9.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix a possible crash in :func:`!_interpreters.create` under limited
+memory conditions.
diff --git a/Modules/_interpchannelsmodule.c b/Modules/_interpchannelsmodule.c
index 82aaea3b97bb5c2..0f8c4296722123b 100644
--- a/Modules/_interpchannelsmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_interpchannelsmodule.c
@@ -2919,10 +2919,8 @@ channelsmod_create(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
                            (channelid **)&cidobj);
     if (handle_channel_error(err, self, cid)) {
         assert(cidobj == NULL);
-        err = channel_destroy(&_globals.channels, cid);
-        if (handle_channel_error(err, self, cid)) {
-            // XXX issue a warning?
-        }
+        assert(PyErr_Occurred());
+        (void)channel_destroy(&_globals.channels, cid);
         return NULL;
     }
     assert(cidobj != NULL);