diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-19-20-38-17.gh-issue-159739.bc65da.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-19-20-38-17.gh-issue-159739.bc65da.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..fd831b6907e777
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-19-20-38-17.gh-issue-159739.bc65da.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Allow cyclic garbage collection to reclaim group records returned by
+:mod:`grp`.
diff --git a/Modules/grpmodule.c b/Modules/grpmodule.c
index fe1d16d8322005..5404250ee7387f 100644
--- a/Modules/grpmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/grpmodule.c
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ mkgrent(PyObject *module, struct group *p)
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    PyObject_GC_Track(v);
     return v;
 }