python
diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_ceval.h b/Include/internal/pycore_ceval.h
@@ -261,8 +261,11 @@ PyAPI_FUNC(void) _PyEval_FormatExcUnbound(PyThreadState *tstate, PyCodeObject *c
 PyAPI_FUNC(void) _PyEval_FormatKwargsError(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject *func, PyObject *kwargs);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *)_PyEval_MatchClass(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject *subject, PyObject *type, Py_ssize_t nargs, PyObject *kwargs);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *)_PyEval_MatchKeys(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject *map, PyObject *keys);
-PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyEval_UnpackIterable(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject *v, int argcnt, int argcntafter, PyObject **sp);
+PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyEval_UnpackIterableStackRef(PyThreadState *tstate, _PyStackRef v, int argcnt, int argcntafter, _PyStackRef *sp);
 PyAPI_FUNC(void) _PyEval_FrameClearAndPop(PyThreadState *tstate, _PyInterpreterFrame *frame);
+PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject **) _PyObjectArray_FromStackRefArray(_PyStackRef *input, Py_ssize_t nargs, PyObject **scratch);
+
+PyAPI_FUNC(void) _PyObjectArray_Free(PyObject **array, PyObject **scratch);
 
 
 /* Bits that can be set in PyThreadState.eval_breaker */

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_code.h b/Include/internal/pycore_code.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #  error "this header requires Py_BUILD_CORE define"
 #endif
 
+#include "pycore_stackref.h"    // _PyStackRef
 #include "pycore_lock.h"        // PyMutex
 #include "pycore_backoff.h"     // _Py_BackoffCounter
 
@@ -317,30 +318,30 @@ extern void _PyCode_Clear_Executors(PyCodeObject *code);
 
 /* Specialization functions */
 
-extern void _Py_Specialize_LoadSuperAttr(PyObject *global_super, PyObject *cls,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_LoadSuperAttr(_PyStackRef global_super, _PyStackRef cls,
                                          _Py_CODEUNIT *instr, int load_method);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_LoadAttr(PyObject *owner, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_LoadAttr(_PyStackRef owner, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
                                     PyObject *name);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_StoreAttr(PyObject *owner, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_StoreAttr(_PyStackRef owner, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
                                      PyObject *name);
 extern void _Py_Specialize_LoadGlobal(PyObject *globals, PyObject *builtins,
                                       _Py_CODEUNIT *instr, PyObject *name);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_BinarySubscr(PyObject *sub, PyObject *container,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_BinarySubscr(_PyStackRef sub, _PyStackRef container,
                                         _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_StoreSubscr(PyObject *container, PyObject *sub,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_StoreSubscr(_PyStackRef container, _PyStackRef sub,
                                        _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_Call(PyObject *callable, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_Call(_PyStackRef callable, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
                                 int nargs);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_BinaryOp(PyObject *lhs, PyObject *rhs, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
-                                    int oparg, PyObject **locals);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_CompareOp(PyObject *lhs, PyObject *rhs,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_BinaryOp(_PyStackRef lhs, _PyStackRef rhs, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
+                                    int oparg, _PyStackRef *locals);
+extern void _Py_Specialize_CompareOp(_PyStackRef lhs, _PyStackRef rhs,
                                      _Py_CODEUNIT *instr, int oparg);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_UnpackSequence(PyObject *seq, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
+extern void _Py_Specialize_UnpackSequence(_PyStackRef seq, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr,
                                           int oparg);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_ForIter(PyObject *iter, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr, int oparg);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_Send(PyObject *receiver, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_ToBool(PyObject *value, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
-extern void _Py_Specialize_ContainsOp(PyObject *value, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
+extern void _Py_Specialize_ForIter(_PyStackRef iter, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr, int oparg);
+extern void _Py_Specialize_Send(_PyStackRef receiver, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
+extern void _Py_Specialize_ToBool(_PyStackRef value, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
+extern void _Py_Specialize_ContainsOp(_PyStackRef value, _Py_CODEUNIT *instr);
 
 #ifdef Py_STATS
 

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_frame.h b/Include/internal/pycore_frame.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stddef.h>               // offsetof()
 #include "pycore_code.h"          // STATS
+#include "pycore_stackref.h"      // _PyStackRef
 
 /* See Objects/frame_layout.md for an explanation of the frame stack
  * including explanation of the PyFrameObject and _PyInterpreterFrame
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ typedef struct _PyInterpreterFrame {
     uint16_t return_offset;  /* Only relevant during a function call */
     char owner;
     /* Locals and stack */
-    PyObject *localsplus[1];
+    _PyStackRef localsplus[1];
 } _PyInterpreterFrame;
 
 #define _PyInterpreterFrame_LASTI(IF) \
@@ -78,23 +79,23 @@ static inline PyCodeObject *_PyFrame_GetCode(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
     return (PyCodeObject *)f->f_executable;
 }
 
-static inline PyObject **_PyFrame_Stackbase(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
-    return f->localsplus + _PyFrame_GetCode(f)->co_nlocalsplus;
+static inline _PyStackRef *_PyFrame_Stackbase(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
+    return (f->localsplus + _PyFrame_GetCode(f)->co_nlocalsplus);
 }
 
-static inline PyObject *_PyFrame_StackPeek(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
+static inline _PyStackRef _PyFrame_StackPeek(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
     assert(f->stacktop > _PyFrame_GetCode(f)->co_nlocalsplus);
-    assert(f->localsplus[f->stacktop-1] != NULL);
+    assert(!PyStackRef_IsNull(f->localsplus[f->stacktop-1]));
     return f->localsplus[f->stacktop-1];
 }
 
-static inline PyObject *_PyFrame_StackPop(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
+static inline _PyStackRef _PyFrame_StackPop(_PyInterpreterFrame *f) {
     assert(f->stacktop > _PyFrame_GetCode(f)->co_nlocalsplus);
     f->stacktop--;
     return f->localsplus[f->stacktop];
 }
 
-static inline void _PyFrame_StackPush(_PyInterpreterFrame *f, PyObject *value) {
+static inline void _PyFrame_StackPush(_PyInterpreterFrame *f, _PyStackRef value) {
     f->localsplus[f->stacktop] = value;
     f->stacktop++;
 }
@@ -143,14 +144,14 @@ _PyFrame_Initialize(
     frame->owner = FRAME_OWNED_BY_THREAD;
 
     for (int i = null_locals_from; i < code->co_nlocalsplus; i++) {
-        frame->localsplus[i] = NULL;
+        frame->localsplus[i] = PyStackRef_NULL;
     }
 }
 
 /* Gets the pointer to the locals array
  * that precedes this frame.
  */
-static inline PyObject**
+static inline _PyStackRef*
 _PyFrame_GetLocalsArray(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame)
 {
     return frame->localsplus;
@@ -160,16 +161,16 @@ _PyFrame_GetLocalsArray(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame)
    Having stacktop <= 0 ensures that invalid
    values are not visible to the cycle GC.
    We choose -1 rather than 0 to assist debugging. */
-static inline PyObject**
+static inline _PyStackRef*
 _PyFrame_GetStackPointer(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame)
 {
-    PyObject **sp = frame->localsplus + frame->stacktop;
+    _PyStackRef *sp = frame->localsplus + frame->stacktop;
     frame->stacktop = -1;
     return sp;
 }
 
 static inline void
-_PyFrame_SetStackPointer(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame, PyObject **stack_pointer)
+_PyFrame_SetStackPointer(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame, _PyStackRef *stack_pointer)
 {
     frame->stacktop = (int)(stack_pointer - frame->localsplus);
 }
@@ -309,7 +310,7 @@ _PyFrame_PushTrampolineUnchecked(PyThreadState *tstate, PyCodeObject *code, int
 
 PyAPI_FUNC(_PyInterpreterFrame *)
 _PyEvalFramePushAndInit(PyThreadState *tstate, PyFunctionObject *func,
-                        PyObject *locals, PyObject* const* args,
+                        PyObject *locals, _PyStackRef const* args,
                         size_t argcount, PyObject *kwnames);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #ifdef _Py_JIT
 
-typedef _Py_CODEUNIT *(*jit_func)(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame, PyObject **stack_pointer, PyThreadState *tstate);
+typedef _Py_CODEUNIT *(*jit_func)(_PyInterpreterFrame *frame, _PyStackRef *stack_pointer, PyThreadState *tstate);
 
 int _PyJIT_Compile(_PyExecutorObject *executor, const _PyUOpInstruction *trace, size_t length);
 void _PyJIT_Free(_PyExecutorObject *executor);

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_object.h b/Include/internal/pycore_object.h
@@ -159,21 +159,6 @@ static inline void _Py_ClearImmortal(PyObject *op)
         op = NULL; \
     } while (0)
 
-// Mark an object as supporting deferred reference counting. This is a no-op
-// in the default (with GIL) build. Objects that use deferred reference
-// counting should be tracked by the GC so that they are eventually collected.
-extern void _PyObject_SetDeferredRefcount(PyObject *op);
-
-static inline int
-_PyObject_HasDeferredRefcount(PyObject *op)
-{
-#ifdef Py_GIL_DISABLED
-    return _PyObject_HAS_GC_BITS(op, _PyGC_BITS_DEFERRED);
-#else
-    return 0;
-#endif
-}
-
 #if !defined(Py_GIL_DISABLED)
 static inline void
 _Py_DECREF_SPECIALIZED(PyObject *op, const destructor destruct)

diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_object_deferred.h b/Include/internal/pycore_object_deferred.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#ifndef Py_INTERNAL_OBJECT_DEFERRED_H
+#define Py_INTERNAL_OBJECT_DEFERRED_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#include "pycore_gc.h"
+
+#ifndef Py_BUILD_CORE
+#  error "this header requires Py_BUILD_CORE define"
+#endif
+
+// Mark an object as supporting deferred reference counting. This is a no-op
+// in the default (with GIL) build. Objects that use deferred reference
+// counting should be tracked by the GC so that they are eventually collected.
+extern void _PyObject_SetDeferredRefcount(PyObject *op);
+
+static inline int
+_PyObject_HasDeferredRefcount(PyObject *op)
+{
+#ifdef Py_GIL_DISABLED
+    return _PyObject_HAS_GC_BITS(op, _PyGC_BITS_DEFERRED);
+#else
+    return 0;
+#endif
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+#endif  // !Py_INTERNAL_OBJECT_DEFERRED_H
diff --git a/Include/internal/pycore_optimizer.h b/Include/internal/pycore_optimizer.h
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ extern int _Py_uop_frame_pop(_Py_UOpsContext *ctx);
 
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) _Py_uop_symbols_test(PyObject *self, PyObject *ignored);
 
-PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyOptimizer_Optimize(struct _PyInterpreterFrame *frame, _Py_CODEUNIT *start, PyObject **stack_pointer, _PyExecutorObject **exec_ptr);
+PyAPI_FUNC(int) _PyOptimizer_Optimize(struct _PyInterpreterFrame *frame, _Py_CODEUNIT *start, _PyStackRef *stack_pointer, _PyExecutorObject **exec_ptr);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }