diff --git a/Lib/functools.py b/Lib/functools.py
index 74db9969ad..8decc874e1 100644
--- a/Lib/functools.py
+++ b/Lib/functools.py
@@ -18,10 +18,7 @@ from abc import get_cache_token
 from collections import namedtuple
 # import types, weakref  # Deferred to single_dispatch()
 from reprlib import recursive_repr
-try:
-    from _thread import RLock
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
-    from _dummy_thread import RLock
+from _thread import RLock
 from types import GenericAlias
 
 
diff --git a/Lib/reprlib.py b/Lib/reprlib.py
index 6b0283b793..616b3439b5 100644
--- a/Lib/reprlib.py
+++ b/Lib/reprlib.py
@@ -4,10 +4,7 @@ __all__ = ["Repr", "repr", "recursive_repr"]
 
 import builtins
 from itertools import islice
-try:
-    from _thread import get_ident
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
-    from _dummy_thread import get_ident
+from _thread import get_ident
 
 def recursive_repr(fillvalue='...'):
     'Decorator to make a repr function return fillvalue for a recursive call'
diff --git a/Lib/tempfile.py b/Lib/tempfile.py
index 17b380c290..3aceb3f70f 100644
--- a/Lib/tempfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tempfile.py
@@ -47,10 +47,7 @@ import sys as _sys
 import types as _types
 import weakref as _weakref
 
-try:
-    import _thread
-except ImportError:
-    import _dummy_thread as _thread
+import _thread
 _allocate_lock = _thread.allocate_lock
 
 _text_openflags = _os.O_RDWR | _os.O_CREAT | _os.O_EXCL
diff --git a/Lib/zipfile.py b/Lib/zipfile.py
index d94310164d..ef1eb47f9f 100644
--- a/Lib/zipfile.py
+++ b/Lib/zipfile.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import sys
 try:
     import threading
 except ImportError:
-    import _dummy_thread as threading
+    import dummy_threading as threading
 import time
 import contextlib
 import pathlib
diff --git a/vm/Lib/python_builtins/_thread.py b/vm/Lib/python_builtins/_thread.py
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..fa4a34c4fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vm/Lib/python_builtins/_thread.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../Lib/_dummy_thread.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
index e98ec694d5..526239e8ff 100644
--- a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
+++ b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
@@ -233,6 +233,8 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
         let mut essential_init = || -> PyResult {
             #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
             import::import_builtin(self, "_signal")?;
+            #[cfg(not(feature = "threading"))]
+            import::import_frozen(self, "_thread")?;
             let importlib = import::init_importlib_base(self)?;
             self.import_utf8_encodings()?;