diff --git a/py/gc.c b/py/gc.c
index 86ed0ce30ef5c9edf348bd7c52fa87a5e678ac89..1fd3206022f7a21a7102a4f0ea1959e8d7e30ac6 100644
--- a/py/gc.c
+++ b/py/gc.c
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
 #define FTB_CLEAR(block) do { MP_STATE_MEM(gc_finaliser_table_start)[(block) / BLOCKS_PER_FTB] &= (~(1 << ((block) & 7))); } while (0)
 #endif
 
-#if MICROPY_PY_THREAD
+#if MICROPY_PY_THREAD && !MICROPY_PY_THREAD_GIL
 #define GC_ENTER() mp_thread_mutex_lock(&MP_STATE_MEM(gc_mutex), 1)
 #define GC_EXIT() mp_thread_mutex_unlock(&MP_STATE_MEM(gc_mutex))
 #else
diff --git a/py/qstr.c b/py/qstr.c
index 39eb696c78fda92b797ade49536d1658ed77f844..079b2a8e7eb238a846e6974f2b95855aeff1fc16 100644
--- a/py/qstr.c
+++ b/py/qstr.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
     #error unimplemented qstr length decoding
 #endif
 
-#if MICROPY_PY_THREAD
+#if MICROPY_PY_THREAD && !MICROPY_PY_THREAD_GIL
 #define QSTR_ENTER() mp_thread_mutex_lock(&MP_STATE_VM(qstr_mutex), 1)
 #define QSTR_EXIT() mp_thread_mutex_unlock(&MP_STATE_VM(qstr_mutex))
 #else