diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-10-10-09-52-21.gh-issue-44098.okcqJt.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-10-10-09-52-21.gh-issue-44098.okcqJt.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4efea4a7c4fccc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-10-10-09-52-21.gh-issue-44098.okcqJt.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Release the GIL when creating :class:`mmap.mmap` objects on Unix.
diff --git a/Modules/mmapmodule.c b/Modules/mmapmodule.c
index 5c05aa738ef564..fdce783fdec5e2 100644
--- a/Modules/mmapmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/mmapmodule.c
@@ -1318,9 +1318,9 @@ new_mmap_object(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwdict)
         }
     }
 
-    m_obj->data = mmap(NULL, map_size,
-                       prot, flags,
-                       fd, offset);
+    Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
+    m_obj->data = mmap(NULL, map_size, prot, flags, fd, offset);
+    Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
 
     if (devzero != -1) {
         close(devzero);