diff --git a/Lib/test/test_capi/test_object.py b/Lib/test/test_capi/test_object.py
index e5c50902a0118d..433afac875aa7b 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_capi/test_object.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_capi/test_object.py
@@ -178,11 +178,17 @@ class EnableDeferredRefcountingTest(unittest.TestCase):
     @support.requires_resource("cpu")
     def test_enable_deferred_refcount(self):
         from threading import Thread
+        import gc
 
         self.assertEqual(_testcapi.pyobject_enable_deferred_refcount("not tracked"), 0)
         foo = []
         self.assertEqual(_testcapi.pyobject_enable_deferred_refcount(foo), int(support.Py_GIL_DISABLED))
 
+        # The object must be tracked by the GC
+        not_gc_tracked = tuple([1, 2])
+        self.assertFalse(gc.is_tracked(not_gc_tracked))
+        self.assertEqual(_testcapi.pyobject_enable_deferred_refcount(not_gc_tracked), 0)
+
         # Make sure reference counting works on foo now
         self.assertEqual(foo, [])
         if support.Py_GIL_DISABLED:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-06-10-16-43-37.gh-issue-123619.dV82r6.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-06-10-16-43-37.gh-issue-123619.dV82r6.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4d4c94563330c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-06-10-16-43-37.gh-issue-123619.dV82r6.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+:c:func:`PyUnstable_Object_EnableDeferredRefcount` now returns ``0`` if the
+object is not tracked by the garbage collector: if :func:`gc.is_tracked` is
+false. Patch by Victor Stinner.
diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index e0e26bb50d3653..bd23c2e2388194 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -2821,6 +2821,13 @@ PyUnstable_Object_EnableDeferredRefcount(PyObject *op)
         return 0;
     }
 
+    if (!PyObject_GC_IsTracked(op)) {
+        // When deferred refcount is enabled, the object will only be
+        // deallocated by the tracing garbage collector. So it must be tracked
+        // by the garbage collector.
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     uint8_t bits = _Py_atomic_load_uint8(&op->ob_gc_bits);
     if ((bits & _PyGC_BITS_DEFERRED) != 0)
     {