diff --git a/guide/pyclass_parameters.md b/guide/pyclass_parameters.md
index edc69eb3cf5..35c54147df5 100644
--- a/guide/pyclass_parameters.md
+++ b/guide/pyclass_parameters.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 | `set_all` | Generates setters for all fields of the pyclass. |
 | `subclass` | Allows other Python classes and `#[pyclass]` to inherit from this class. Enums cannot be subclassed. |
 | <span style="white-space: pre">`text_signature = "(arg1, arg2, ...)"`</span> |  Sets the text signature for the Python class' `__new__` method. |
-| `unsendable` | Required if your struct is not [`Send`][params-3]. Rather than using `unsendable`, consider implementing your struct in a threadsafe way by e.g. substituting [`Rc`][params-4] with [`Arc`][params-5]. By using `unsendable`, your class will panic when accessed by another thread.|
+| `unsendable` | Required if your struct is not [`Send`][params-3]. Rather than using `unsendable`, consider implementing your struct in a threadsafe way by e.g. substituting [`Rc`][params-4] with [`Arc`][params-5]. By using `unsendable`, your class will panic when accessed by another thread. Also note the Python's GC is multi-threaded and while unsendable classes will not be traversed on foreign threads to avoid UB, this can lead to memory leaks. |
 | `weakref` | Allows this class to be [weakly referenceable][params-6]. |
 
 All of these parameters can either be passed directly on the `#[pyclass(...)]` annotation, or as one or
diff --git a/newsfragments/3689.changed.md b/newsfragments/3689.changed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..30928e82f64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/3689.changed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Calls to `__traverse__` become no-ops for unsendable pyclasses if on the wrong thread, thereby avoiding hard aborts at the cost of potential leakage.
diff --git a/src/impl_/pyclass.rs b/src/impl_/pyclass.rs
index 3941dfcb3e7..5ee67dc998d 100644
--- a/src/impl_/pyclass.rs
+++ b/src/impl_/pyclass.rs
@@ -1013,6 +1013,7 @@ impl<T> PyClassNewTextSignature<T> for &'_ PyClassImplCollector<T> {
 #[doc(hidden)]
 pub trait PyClassThreadChecker<T>: Sized {
     fn ensure(&self);
+    fn check(&self) -> bool;
     fn can_drop(&self, py: Python<'_>) -> bool;
     fn new() -> Self;
     private_decl! {}
@@ -1028,6 +1029,9 @@ pub struct SendablePyClass<T: Send>(PhantomData<T>);
 
 impl<T: Send> PyClassThreadChecker<T> for SendablePyClass<T> {
     fn ensure(&self) {}
+    fn check(&self) -> bool {
+        true
+    }
     fn can_drop(&self, _py: Python<'_>) -> bool {
         true
     }
@@ -1053,6 +1057,10 @@ impl ThreadCheckerImpl {
         );
     }
 
+    fn check(&self) -> bool {
+        thread::current().id() == self.0
+    }
+
     fn can_drop(&self, py: Python<'_>, type_name: &'static str) -> bool {
         if thread::current().id() != self.0 {
             PyRuntimeError::new_err(format!(
@@ -1071,6 +1079,9 @@ impl<T> PyClassThreadChecker<T> for ThreadCheckerImpl {
     fn ensure(&self) {
         self.ensure(std::any::type_name::<T>());
     }
+    fn check(&self) -> bool {
+        self.check()
+    }
     fn can_drop(&self, py: Python<'_>) -> bool {
         self.can_drop(py, std::any::type_name::<T>())
     }
diff --git a/src/impl_/pymethods.rs b/src/impl_/pymethods.rs
index f2d816bba8d..e403aa23c79 100644
--- a/src/impl_/pymethods.rs
+++ b/src/impl_/pymethods.rs
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ where
 
     let py = Python::assume_gil_acquired();
     let slf = py.from_borrowed_ptr::<PyCell<T>>(slf);
-    let borrow = slf.try_borrow();
+    let borrow = slf.try_borrow_threadsafe();
     let visit = PyVisit::from_raw(visit, arg, py);
 
     let retval = if let Ok(borrow) = borrow {
diff --git a/src/pycell.rs b/src/pycell.rs
index 3bc80a7eb07..bde95ad8313 100644
--- a/src/pycell.rs
+++ b/src/pycell.rs
@@ -351,6 +351,14 @@ impl<T: PyClass> PyCell<T> {
             .map(|_| PyRef { inner: self })
     }
 
+    /// Variant of [`try_borrow`][Self::try_borrow] which fails instead of panicking if called from the wrong thread
+    pub(crate) fn try_borrow_threadsafe(&self) -> Result<PyRef<'_, T>, PyBorrowError> {
+        self.check_threadsafe()?;
+        self.borrow_checker()
+            .try_borrow()
+            .map(|_| PyRef { inner: self })
+    }
+
     /// Mutably borrows the value `T`, returning an error if the value is currently borrowed.
     /// This borrow lasts as long as the returned `PyRefMut` exists.
     ///
@@ -975,6 +983,7 @@ impl From<PyBorrowMutError> for PyErr {
 #[doc(hidden)]
 pub trait PyCellLayout<T>: PyLayout<T> {
     fn ensure_threadsafe(&self);
+    fn check_threadsafe(&self) -> Result<(), PyBorrowError>;
     /// Implementation of tp_dealloc.
     /// # Safety
     /// - slf must be a valid pointer to an instance of a T or a subclass.
@@ -988,6 +997,9 @@ where
     T: PyTypeInfo,
 {
     fn ensure_threadsafe(&self) {}
+    fn check_threadsafe(&self) -> Result<(), PyBorrowError> {
+        Ok(())
+    }
     unsafe fn tp_dealloc(py: Python<'_>, slf: *mut ffi::PyObject) {
         let type_obj = T::type_object_raw(py);
         // For `#[pyclass]` types which inherit from PyAny, we can just call tp_free
@@ -1025,6 +1037,12 @@ where
         self.contents.thread_checker.ensure();
         self.ob_base.ensure_threadsafe();
     }
+    fn check_threadsafe(&self) -> Result<(), PyBorrowError> {
+        if !self.contents.thread_checker.check() {
+            return Err(PyBorrowError { _private: () });
+        }
+        self.ob_base.check_threadsafe()
+    }
     unsafe fn tp_dealloc(py: Python<'_>, slf: *mut ffi::PyObject) {
         // Safety: Python only calls tp_dealloc when no references to the object remain.
         let cell = &mut *(slf as *mut PyCell<T>);
diff --git a/tests/test_gc.rs b/tests/test_gc.rs
index 8fd4622f65e..54c3e1a100c 100644
--- a/tests/test_gc.rs
+++ b/tests/test_gc.rs
@@ -512,6 +512,55 @@ fn drop_during_traversal_without_gil() {
     assert!(drop_called.load(Ordering::Relaxed));
 }
 
+#[pyclass(unsendable)]
+struct UnsendableTraversal {
+    traversed: Cell<bool>,
+}
+
+#[pymethods]
+impl UnsendableTraversal {
+    fn __clear__(&mut self) {}
+
+    #[allow(clippy::unnecessary_wraps)]
+    fn __traverse__(&self, _visit: PyVisit<'_>) -> Result<(), PyTraverseError> {
+        self.traversed.set(true);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))] // We are building wasm Python with pthreads disabled
+fn unsendable_are_not_traversed_on_foreign_thread() {
+    Python::with_gil(|py| unsafe {
+        let ty = py.get_type::<UnsendableTraversal>().as_type_ptr();
+        let traverse = get_type_traverse(ty).unwrap();
+
+        let obj = Py::new(
+            py,
+            UnsendableTraversal {
+                traversed: Cell::new(false),
+            },
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let ptr = SendablePtr(obj.as_ptr());
+
+        std::thread::spawn(move || {
+            // traversal on foreign thread is a no-op
+            assert_eq!(traverse({ ptr }.0, novisit, std::ptr::null_mut()), 0);
+        })
+        .join()
+        .unwrap();
+
+        assert!(!obj.borrow(py).traversed.get());
+
+        // traversal on home thread still works
+        assert_eq!(traverse({ ptr }.0, novisit, std::ptr::null_mut()), 0);
+
+        assert!(obj.borrow(py).traversed.get());
+    });
+}
+
 // Manual traversal utilities
 
 unsafe fn get_type_traverse(tp: *mut pyo3::ffi::PyTypeObject) -> Option<pyo3::ffi::traverseproc> {
@@ -533,3 +582,8 @@ extern "C" fn visit_error(
 ) -> std::os::raw::c_int {
     -1
 }
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+struct SendablePtr(*mut pyo3::ffi::PyObject);
+
+unsafe impl Send for SendablePtr {}