diff --git a/Python/pystate.c b/Python/pystate.c
index d10b38def32911..358328fe18db58 100644
--- a/Python/pystate.c
+++ b/Python/pystate.c
@@ -857,8 +857,6 @@ interpreter_clear(PyInterpreterState *interp, PyThreadState *tstate)
      */
     // XXX Make sure we properly deal with problematic finalizers.
 
-    Py_CLEAR(interp->audit_hooks);
-
     // gh-140257: Threads have already been cleared, but daemon threads may
     // still access eval_breaker atomically via take_gil() right before they
     // hang. Use an atomic store to prevent data races during finalization.
diff --git a/Python/sysmodule.c b/Python/sysmodule.c
index 9442472b53abbe..3ad587da0c4d9e 100644
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c
@@ -235,8 +235,12 @@ should_audit(PyInterpreterState *interp)
     if (!interp) {
         return 0;
     }
+    // interp->audit_hooks can only ever be NULL very early during initialization
+    // or very late during finalization.
+    int interp_has_audit_hooks = (interp->audit_hooks != NULL
+                                  && PyList_GET_SIZE(interp->audit_hooks) > 0);
     return (interp->runtime->audit_hooks.head
-            || interp->audit_hooks
+            || interp_has_audit_hooks
             || PyDTrace_AUDIT_ENABLED());
 }
 
@@ -306,7 +310,9 @@ sys_audit_tstate(PyThreadState *ts, const char *event,
     }
 
     /* Call interpreter hooks */
-    if (is->audit_hooks) {
+    PyObject *audit_hooks = is->audit_hooks;
+    assert(audit_hooks != NULL);
+    if (PyList_GET_SIZE(audit_hooks) > 0) {
         eventName = PyUnicode_FromString(event);
         if (!eventName) {
             goto exit;
@@ -447,6 +453,8 @@ _PySys_ClearAuditHooks(PyThreadState *ts)
         PyMem_RawFree(e);
         e = n;
     }
+
+    Py_CLEAR(ts->interp->audit_hooks);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -536,15 +544,7 @@ sys_addaudithook_impl(PyObject *module, PyObject *hook)
     }
 
     PyInterpreterState *interp = tstate->interp;
-    if (interp->audit_hooks == NULL) {
-        interp->audit_hooks = PyList_New(0);
-        if (interp->audit_hooks == NULL) {
-            return NULL;
-        }
-        /* Avoid having our list of hooks show up in the GC module */
-        PyObject_GC_UnTrack(interp->audit_hooks);
-    }
-
+    assert(interp->audit_hooks != NULL);
     if (PyList_Append(interp->audit_hooks, hook) < 0) {
         return NULL;
     }
@@ -4313,6 +4313,13 @@ _PySys_Create(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject **sysmod_p)
 
     PyInterpreterState *interp = tstate->interp;
 
+    PyObject *audit_hooks = PyList_New(0);
+    if (audit_hooks == NULL) {
+        goto error;
+    }
+    _PyObject_GC_UNTRACK(audit_hooks);
+    interp->audit_hooks = audit_hooks;
+
     PyObject *modules = _PyImport_InitModules(interp);
     if (modules == NULL) {
         goto error;