diff --git a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
index 8cc1b00..bf83e96 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
@@ -276,6 +276,22 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
         c3 = C3()
         self.assertTrue(callable(c3))
 
+        # C4 instances are not actually callable.
+        class C4(object):
+            @property
+            def __call__(self):
+                raise AttributeError('Go away!')
+
+        self.assertFalse(callable(C4()))
+
+        # C5 instances are callable because the descriptor returns a func.
+        class C5(object):
+            @property
+            def __call__(self):
+                return lambda: None
+
+        self.assertTrue(callable(C5()))
+
     def test_chr(self):
         self.assertEqual(chr(32), ' ')
         self.assertEqual(chr(65), 'A')
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b7d9607..973c6e5 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 
 - Issue #23275: Allow assigning to an empty target list in round brackets:
   () = iterable.
+- Issue #23990: Makes the callable builtin function respect the descriptor
+  protocol.
 
 Library
 -------
diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index cc1b2ff..9619382 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ _Py_IDENTIFIER(__bytes__);
 _Py_IDENTIFIER(__dir__);
 _Py_IDENTIFIER(__isabstractmethod__);
 _Py_IDENTIFIER(builtins);
+_Py_IDENTIFIER(__call__);
 
 #ifdef Py_REF_DEBUG
 Py_ssize_t _Py_RefTotal;
@@ -1264,7 +1265,17 @@ PyCallable_Check(PyObject *x)
 {
     if (x == NULL)
         return 0;
-    return x->ob_type->tp_call != NULL;
+
+    if (Py_TYPE(x)->tp_call == NULL)
+        return 0;
+
+    if (_PyObject_LookupSpecial(x, &PyId___call__) == NULL)
+        return 0;
+
+    if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_AttributeError))
+        PyErr_Clear();
+
+    return 1;
 }