diff --git a/Lib/weakref.py b/Lib/weakref.py
index 994ea8aa37..53edbc0cae 100644
--- a/Lib/weakref.py
+++ b/Lib/weakref.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from _weakrefset import WeakSet, _IterationGuard
 
 import _collections_abc  # Import after _weakref to avoid circular import.
 import sys
+import time
 import itertools
 
 ProxyTypes = (ProxyType, CallableProxyType)
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ class WeakValueDictionary(_collections_abc.MutableMapping):
     # way in).
 
     def __init__(self, other=(), /, **kw):
+        should_sleep = True
         def remove(wr, selfref=ref(self), _atomic_removal=_remove_dead_weakref):
             self = selfref()
             if self is not None:
@@ -111,6 +113,10 @@ class WeakValueDictionary(_collections_abc.MutableMapping):
                 else:
                     # Atomic removal is necessary since this function
                     # can be called asynchronously by the GC
+                    nonlocal should_sleep
+                    if should_sleep:
+                        time.sleep(0.02)
+                        should_sleep = False
                     _atomic_removal(self.data, wr.key)
         self._remove = remove
         # A list of keys to be removed
@@ -185,6 +191,7 @@ class WeakValueDictionary(_collections_abc.MutableMapping):
         if self._pending_removals:
             self._commit_removals()
         new = self.__class__()
+        time.sleep(0.01)
         with _IterationGuard(self):
             for key, wr in self.data.items():
                 o = wr()