diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index f57514ae28..6c6fad350c 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -2800,6 +2800,16 @@ class class_ : public detail::generic_type {
     template <typename H = holder_type,
               detail::enable_if_t<!detail::is_smart_holder<H>::value, int> = 0>
     static void init_instance(detail::instance *inst, const void *holder_ptr) {
+        // A factory-based `py::init` keeps the `py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>`
+        // alive across the `construct()` call that invokes this function, so
+        // `init_instance` may run with the GIL released. Acquire it (a no-op if it is
+        // already held) so that `register_instance` and `init_holder` only touch
+        // `internals.registered_instances` while the GIL is held.
+        //
+        // On free-threaded builds `gil_scoped_release` detaches the thread state instead:
+        // `gil_scoped_acquire` attaches it again without taking a global lock, as required
+        // by the critical section inside `get_type_info`.
+        gil_scoped_acquire gil;
         auto v_h = inst->get_value_and_holder(detail::get_type_info(typeid(type)));
         if (!v_h.instance_registered()) {
             register_instance(inst, v_h.value_ptr(), v_h.type);
@@ -2840,6 +2850,9 @@ class class_ : public detail::generic_type {
         // void (*init_instance)(instance *, const void *);
         auto *holder_void_ptr = const_cast<void *>(holder_const_void_ptr);
 
+        // See the comment in the non-smart_holder `init_instance` above.
+        gil_scoped_acquire gil;
+
         auto v_h = inst->get_value_and_holder(detail::get_type_info(typeid(type)));
         if (!v_h.instance_registered()) {
             register_instance(inst, v_h.value_ptr(), v_h.type);
diff --git a/tests/test_gil_scoped.cpp b/tests/test_gil_scoped.cpp
index f136086e84..191284b1a8 100644
--- a/tests/test_gil_scoped.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_gil_scoped.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 #include "pybind11_tests.h"
 
+#include <chrono>
+#include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <thread>
 
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ class VirtClass {
     virtual void pure_virtual_func() = 0;
 };
 
+class SlowInit {
+public:
+    explicit SlowInit(int) {}
+};
+
 class PyVirtClass : public VirtClass {
     void virtual_func() override { PYBIND11_OVERRIDE(void, VirtClass, virtual_func, ); }
     void pure_virtual_func() override {
@@ -50,6 +57,16 @@ TEST_SUBMODULE(gil_scoped, m) {
         .def("virtual_func", &VirtClass::virtual_func)
         .def("pure_virtual_func", &VirtClass::pure_virtual_func);
 
+    py::class_<SlowInit>(m, "SlowInit")
+        .def(py::init([](int state) {
+                 // Sleep to widen the window in which `init_instance` runs with the GIL
+                 // released by the call_guard, making the instance-map race (without the
+                 // `init_instance` GIL-acquire fix) much more likely to surface.
+                 std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1));
+                 return std::unique_ptr<SlowInit>(new SlowInit(state));
+             }),
+             py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>());
+
     m.def("test_callback_py_obj", [](py::object &func) { func(); });
     m.def("test_callback_std_func", [](const std::function<void()> &func) { func(); });
     m.def("test_callback_virtual_func", [](VirtClass &virt) { virt.virtual_func(); });
diff --git a/tests/test_gil_scoped.py b/tests/test_gil_scoped.py
index fc998b0ed2..8c0ac9597d 100644
--- a/tests/test_gil_scoped.py
+++ b/tests/test_gil_scoped.py
@@ -160,6 +160,37 @@ def test_all_basic_tests_completeness():
     assert len(ALL_BASIC_TESTS) == num_found
 
 
+# Defined after ALL_BASIC_TESTS on purpose: this test is a regression for the
+# `gil_scoped_release` + factory `py::init` path, not a deadlock check, so it should not
+# run in the _run_in_process parametrizations above (whose subprocesses impose a 10s
+# timeout; on Windows this test is much slower there due to sleep timer granularity and
+# GIL handoff costs).
+@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform.startswith("emscripten"), reason="Requires threads")
+def test_init_factory_gil_released_concurrent_construction():
+    """Concurrent construction via a factory `py::init` with `call_guard<gil_scoped_release>`.
+
+    `init_instance` runs while the GIL is released and must internally acquire the GIL
+    before touching the instance map. Without that fix this aborts with
+    "pybind11_object_dealloc(): Tried to deallocate unregistered instance!" (races on
+    `internals.registered_instances`, which is unguarded on GIL builds). On free-threaded
+    builds the detached thread state instead segfaults in `PyCriticalSection_BeginMutex`
+    (via `get_type_info`), even without concurrency.
+    """
+    num_threads = 8
+    iterations = 100
+
+    def construct_many():
+        for _ in range(iterations):
+            instance = m.SlowInit(0)
+            del instance  # Destructor runs with the GIL held (deregistration).
+
+    threads = [threading.Thread(target=construct_many) for _ in range(num_threads)]
+    for thread in threads:
+        thread.start()
+    for thread in threads:
+        thread.join()
+
+
 def _intentional_deadlock():
     m.intentional_deadlock()