python · SynaptSea · Jul 19, 2026
diff --git a/Lib/ctypes/util.py b/Lib/ctypes/util.py
@@ -17,16 +17,21 @@
     def _get_build_version():
         """Return the version of MSVC that was used to build Python.
 
-        For Python 2.3 and up, the version number is included in
-        sys.version.  For earlier versions, assume the compiler is MSVC 6.
+        The version number is included in sys.version.  Return None if it
+        cannot be found there, for example because Python was not built
+        with MSVC or because sys.version has been truncated.
         """
         # This function was copied from Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
         prefix = "MSC v."
         i = sys.version.find(prefix)
         if i == -1:
-            return 6
+            # We don't know what version of the compiler this is.
+            return None
         i = i + len(prefix)
-        s, rest = sys.version[i:].split(" ", 1)
+        s, sep, _ = sys.version[i:].partition(" ")
+        if not sep:
+            # sys.version was truncated inside the version number.
+            return None
         majorVersion = int(s[:-2]) - 6
         if majorVersion >= 13:
             majorVersion += 1

diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ctypes/test_find.py b/Lib/test/test_ctypes/test_find.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import ctypes.util
 import os.path
 import sys
 import test.support
@@ -221,5 +222,56 @@ def test_find_nothing_with_wrong_ld_library_path(self):
                 self.assertIsNone(result)
 
 
+@unittest.skipUnless(os.name == 'nt', 'Test only valid for Windows')
+class FindLibraryWindows(unittest.TestCase):
+    # gh-154199: Python/getversion.c formats the compiler identification with
+    # "%.80s", so a long banner (as emitted by clang-cl builds) can be cut off
+    # before the "MSC v." marker.  The build version must then be reported as
+    # unknown instead of defaulting to MSVC 6, which would make find_msvcrt()
+    # hand out msvcrt.dll -- a CRT that does not share its errno with the one
+    # the _ctypes extension module was linked against.
+    TRUNCATED_CLANG_VERSION = (
+        '3.16.0a0 free-threading build (heads/main:0123456789ab, '
+        'Jan  1 2026, 00:00:00) [Clang 22.1.8 '
+        '(https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project ca7933e47d3a3451d81e72ac174d'
+    )
+    # Truncated just after the marker, so the version digits are missing.
+    TRUNCATED_IN_MARKER_VERSION = (
+        '3.16.0a0 (main:0123456789ab, Jan  1 2026, 00:00:00) '
+        '[Clang 22.1.8 (https://example.invalid) 64 bit (AMD64) with MSC v.1944'
+    )
+    MSVC_VERSION = (
+        '3.16.0a0 (main:0123456789ab, Jan  1 2026, 00:00:00) '
+        '[MSC v.1944 64 bit (AMD64)]'
+    )
+
+    @thread_unsafe('patches sys.version')
+    def test_get_build_version_truncated(self):
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(sys, 'version',
+                                        self.TRUNCATED_CLANG_VERSION):
+            self.assertIsNone(ctypes.util._get_build_version())
+
+    @thread_unsafe('patches sys.version')
+    def test_get_build_version_truncated_in_marker(self):
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(sys, 'version',
+                                        self.TRUNCATED_IN_MARKER_VERSION):
+            self.assertIsNone(ctypes.util._get_build_version())
+
+    @thread_unsafe('patches sys.version')
+    def test_find_msvcrt_truncated(self):
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(sys, 'version',
+                                        self.TRUNCATED_CLANG_VERSION):
+            self.assertIsNone(ctypes.util.find_msvcrt())
+            self.assertIsNone(find_library('c'))
+            self.assertIsNone(find_library('m'))
+
+    @thread_unsafe('patches sys.version')
+    def test_get_build_version_msvc(self):
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(sys, 'version', self.MSVC_VERSION):
+            self.assertEqual(ctypes.util._get_build_version(), 14.4)
+            # Recent versions of the CRT are not directly loadable.
+            self.assertIsNone(ctypes.util.find_msvcrt())
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-19-21-40-00.gh-issue-154199.Kq3mVt.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-19-21-40-00.gh-issue-154199.Kq3mVt.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Fix :func:`ctypes.util.find_msvcrt` on Windows builds whose :data:`sys.version`
+does not contain the ``MSC v.`` marker, which happens on ``clang-cl`` builds
+because the compiler banner is truncated to 80 characters. Instead of assuming
+MSVC 6 and returning ``msvcrt.dll`` -- a C runtime that does not share its
+``errno`` with the one the :mod:`!_ctypes` extension module is linked against
+-- the compiler version is now reported as unknown, so
+:func:`!ctypes.util.find_msvcrt` and ``find_library('c')`` return ``None``,
+matching builds made with modern versions of MSVC.