diff --git a/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py b/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
index 371c48220958629..9397191648298b1 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ def wrapped(self, *args, **kwargs):
         'sort',
     ]:
         locals()[method_name] = _wrap_deprecated_method(method_name)
+    del method_name
 
     def __add__(self, other):
         if not isinstance(other, tuple):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-27-14-25-42.bpo-46546.rpSN2y.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-27-14-25-42.bpo-46546.rpSN2y.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..9f81621115db6ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-27-14-25-42.bpo-46546.rpSN2y.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Remove ``method_name`` var leak from
+:class:`importlib.metadata.DeprecatedList`.