vstinner · Oct 6, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026
@@ -1181,6 +1181,10 @@ New features
 * Add :c:func:`Py_HashBuffer` to the limited C API.
   (Contributed by Victor Stinner in :gh:`148233`.)
 
+* Add :c:macro:`Py_SETREF` and :c:macro:`Py_XSETREF` macros to the limited C
+  API.
+  (Contributed by Nathan Goldbaum and Victor Stinner in :gh:`158842`.)
+
 Porting to Python 3.16
 ----------------------
 

diff --git a/Include/cpython/object.h b/Include/cpython/object.h
@@ -326,87 +326,6 @@ _PyObject_GenericSetAttrWithDict(PyObject *, PyObject *,
 
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) _PyObject_FunctionStr(PyObject *);
 
-/* Safely decref `dst` and set `dst` to `src`.
- *
- * As in case of Py_CLEAR "the obvious" code can be deadly:
- *
- *     Py_DECREF(dst);
- *     dst = src;
- *
- * The safe way is:
- *
- *      Py_SETREF(dst, src);
- *
- * That arranges to set `dst` to `src` _before_ decref'ing, so that any code
- * triggered as a side-effect of `dst` getting torn down no longer believes
- * `dst` points to a valid object.
- *
- * Temporary variables are used to only evaluate macro arguments once and so
- * avoid the duplication of side effects. _Py_TYPEOF(), C++ auto, or memcpy()
- * is used to avoid a miscompilation caused by type punning. See Py_CLEAR()
- * comment for implementation details about type punning.
- *
- * The memcpy() implementation does not emit a compiler warning if 'src' has
- * not the same type than 'src': any pointer type is accepted for 'src'.
- */
-#ifdef _Py_TYPEOF
-#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        _Py_TYPEOF(&(dst)) _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
-        _Py_TYPEOF(dst) _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
-        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#elif defined(__cplusplus) && (__cplusplus >= 201103L ||  _MSVC_LANG >= 201103L)
-#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        auto _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
-        auto _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
-        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#else
-#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        PyObject **_tmp_dst_ptr = _Py_CAST(PyObject**, &(dst)); \
-        PyObject *_tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        PyObject *_tmp_src = _PyObject_CAST(src); \
-        memcpy(_tmp_dst_ptr, &_tmp_src, sizeof(PyObject*)); \
-        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#endif
-
-/* Py_XSETREF() is a variant of Py_SETREF() that uses Py_XDECREF() instead of
- * Py_DECREF().
- */
-#ifdef _Py_TYPEOF
-#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        _Py_TYPEOF(&(dst)) _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
-        _Py_TYPEOF(dst) _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
-        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#elif defined(__cplusplus) && (__cplusplus >= 201103L ||  _MSVC_LANG >= 201103L)
-#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        auto _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
-        auto _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
-        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#else
-#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
-    do { \
-        PyObject **_tmp_dst_ptr = _Py_CAST(PyObject**, &(dst)); \
-        PyObject *_tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
-        PyObject *_tmp_src = _PyObject_CAST(src); \
-        memcpy(_tmp_dst_ptr, &_tmp_src, sizeof(PyObject*)); \
-        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
-    } while (0)
-#endif
-
-
 /* Define a pair of assertion macros:
    _PyObject_ASSERT_FROM(), _PyObject_ASSERT_WITH_MSG() and _PyObject_ASSERT().
 

diff --git a/Include/refcount.h b/Include/refcount.h
@@ -516,6 +516,87 @@ static inline Py_ALWAYS_INLINE void Py_DECREF(PyObject *op)
 #endif
 
 
+/* Safely decref `dst` and set `dst` to `src`.
+ *
+ * As in case of Py_CLEAR "the obvious" code can be deadly:
+ *
+ *     Py_DECREF(dst);
+ *     dst = src;
+ *
+ * The safe way is:
+ *
+ *      Py_SETREF(dst, src);
+ *
+ * That arranges to set `dst` to `src` _before_ decref'ing, so that any code
+ * triggered as a side-effect of `dst` getting torn down no longer believes
+ * `dst` points to a valid object.
+ *
+ * Temporary variables are used to only evaluate macro arguments once and so
+ * avoid the duplication of side effects. _Py_TYPEOF(), C++ auto, or memcpy()
+ * is used to avoid a miscompilation caused by type punning. See Py_CLEAR()
+ * comment for implementation details about type punning.
+ *
+ * The memcpy() implementation does not emit a compiler warning if 'src' has
+ * not the same type than 'src': any pointer type is accepted for 'src'.
+ */
+#ifdef _Py_TYPEOF
+#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        _Py_TYPEOF(&(dst)) _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
+        _Py_TYPEOF(dst) _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
+        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#elif defined(__cplusplus) && (__cplusplus >= 201103L ||  _MSVC_LANG >= 201103L)
+#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        auto _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
+        auto _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
+        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#else
+#define Py_SETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        PyObject **_tmp_dst_ptr = _Py_CAST(PyObject**, &(dst)); \
+        PyObject *_tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        PyObject *_tmp_src = _PyObject_CAST(src); \
+        memcpy(_tmp_dst_ptr, &_tmp_src, sizeof(PyObject*)); \
+        Py_DECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#endif
+
+/* Py_XSETREF() is a variant of Py_SETREF() that uses Py_XDECREF() instead of
+ * Py_DECREF().
+ */
+#ifdef _Py_TYPEOF
+#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        _Py_TYPEOF(&(dst)) _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
+        _Py_TYPEOF(dst) _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
+        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#elif defined(__cplusplus) && (__cplusplus >= 201103L ||  _MSVC_LANG >= 201103L)
+#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        auto _tmp_dst_ptr = &(dst); \
+        auto _tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        *_tmp_dst_ptr = (src); \
+        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#else
+#define Py_XSETREF(dst, src) \
+    do { \
+        PyObject **_tmp_dst_ptr = _Py_CAST(PyObject**, &(dst)); \
+        PyObject *_tmp_old_dst = (*_tmp_dst_ptr); \
+        PyObject *_tmp_src = _PyObject_CAST(src); \
+        memcpy(_tmp_dst_ptr, &_tmp_src, sizeof(PyObject*)); \
+        Py_XDECREF(_tmp_old_dst); \
+    } while (0)
+#endif
+
+
 /* Function to use in case the object pointer can be NULL: */
 static inline void Py_XINCREF(PyObject *op)
 {

diff --git a/Lib/test/test_cext/extension.c b/Lib/test/test_cext/extension.c
@@ -104,7 +104,6 @@ test_macros(PyObject *Py_UNUSED(module), PyObject *Py_UNUSED(args))
     Py_CLEAR(slots[0]);
     assert(slots[0] == _Py_NULL);
 
-#ifndef Py_LIMITED_API
     // Test Py_SETREF(): use typeof()/__typeof__() if available, or memcpy()
     obj = Py_None;
     Py_SETREF(obj, _Py_NULL);
@@ -124,7 +123,6 @@ test_macros(PyObject *Py_UNUSED(module), PyObject *Py_UNUSED(args))
     slots[0] = Py_None;
     Py_XSETREF(slots[0], _Py_NULL);
     assert(slots[0] == _Py_NULL);
-#endif
 
     // Test that Py_BEGIN_CRITICAL_SECTION is available
     dict = PyDict_New();

diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-10-05-15-24-22.gh-issue-158842.g7eLtE.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-10-05-15-24-22.gh-issue-158842.g7eLtE.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Add :c:macro:`Py_SETREF` and :c:macro:`Py_XSETREF` macros to the limited C
+API. Patch by Nathan Goldbaum and Victor Stinner.
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
		Add :c:macro:`Py_SETREF` and :c:macro:`Py_XSETREF` macros to the limited C
		API. Patch by Nathan Goldbaum and Victor Stinner.