diff --git a/src/PyCall.jl b/src/PyCall.jl
index f1987a29..c7e4e0b1 100644
--- a/src/PyCall.jl
+++ b/src/PyCall.jl
@@ -76,11 +76,22 @@ mutable struct PyObject
     o::PyPtr # the actual PyObject*
     function PyObject(o::PyPtr)
         po = new(o)
-        finalizer(pydecref, po)
-        return po
+        finalizer(_pydecref_eventually, po)
     end
 end
 
+# we can only call pydecref from the main thread. if we happen to hit
+# GC from a different thread, add the finalizer back to the finalization
+# queue to try again later when we'll eventually be on the main thread.
+function _pydecref_eventually(po)
+    if Threads.threadid()==1
+        pydecref(po)
+    else
+        finalizer(_pydecref_eventually, po)
+    end
+    return nothing
+end
+
 PyPtr(o::PyObject) = getfield(o, :o)
 
 """
diff --git a/src/pybuffer.jl b/src/pybuffer.jl
index a2cec72d..cdabca14 100644
--- a/src/pybuffer.jl
+++ b/src/pybuffer.jl
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ mutable struct PyBuffer
         b = new(Py_buffer(C_NULL, PyPtr_NULL, 0, 0,
                           0, 0, C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL,
                           C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL))
-        finalizer(pydecref, b)
+        finalizer(_pydecref_eventually, b)
         return b
     end
 end