diff --git a/Lib/test/pickletester.py b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
index c53262e358b48ea..3f6560869f34ac9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/pickletester.py
+++ b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
@@ -4925,6 +4925,31 @@ def test_load_from_and_dump_to_file(self):
         unpickled = self.load(stream)
         self.assertEqual(unpickled, data)
 
+    def test_load_from_file_returning_bytes_subclass(self):
+        # gh-158841: read() returning a bytes subclass must not crash
+        # when the payload is large enough to need several chunked reads.
+        class MyBytes(bytes):
+            pass
+
+        class Reader:
+            def __init__(self, data):
+                self.data = data
+                self.pos = 0
+            def read(self, n):
+                chunk = self.data[self.pos:self.pos + n]
+                self.pos += len(chunk)
+                return MyBytes(chunk)
+            def readline(self):
+                end = self.data.find(b'\n', self.pos)
+                end = len(self.data) if end < 0 else end + 1
+                line = self.data[self.pos:end]
+                self.pos = end
+                return line
+
+        obj = {'v': 'B' * (3 * 1024 * 1024)}
+        data = self.dumps(obj, protocol=4)
+        self.assertEqual(self.load(Reader(data)), obj)
+
     def test_highest_protocol(self):
         # Of course this needs to be changed when HIGHEST_PROTOCOL changes.
         self.assertEqual(pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL, 5)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_capi/test_bytes.py b/Lib/test/test_capi/test_bytes.py
index 0f53d915c63dd31..b8e11ffad77f167 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_capi/test_bytes.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_capi/test_bytes.py
@@ -244,6 +244,9 @@ def test_resize(self):
         """Test _PyBytes_Resize()"""
         _resize = _testcapi.bytes_resize
 
+        class BytesSubclass(bytes):
+            pass
+
         def assert_is_fresh_copy(result, refcnt, is_new_obj):
             self.assertEqual(refcnt, 1)
             self.assertTrue(is_new_obj)
@@ -275,6 +278,20 @@ def resize(obj, size, new, compute_hash=False):
                 self.assertEqual(refcnt, 1)
                 self.assertFalse(sys._is_immortal(result))
 
+            if not new:
+                # Given a subclass of bytes, _resize always returns a new copy
+                # or empty singleton
+                sub = BytesSubclass(obj)
+                sub_result, refcnt, is_new_obj = _resize(
+                    sub, size, new, compute_hash=compute_hash)
+
+                if size == 0:
+                    self.assertIs(sub_result, b'')
+                    self.assertTrue(sys._is_immortal(sub_result))
+                    self.assertTrue(is_new_obj)
+                else:
+                    assert_is_fresh_copy(sub_result, refcnt, is_new_obj)
+
             return result
 
         for new in True, False:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-10-09-14-10-47.gh-issue-158846.tpi7gn.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-10-09-14-10-47.gh-issue-158846.tpi7gn.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..1398747d735a077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/C_API/2026-10-09-14-10-47.gh-issue-158846.tpi7gn.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+When the :c:func:`_PyBytes_Resize` function is called with a subclass of
+:py:class:`bytes`, it now skips optimization (which could lead to crashes),
+and returns a new bytes object.
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-14-30-00.gh-issue-158841.pK3vNd.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-14-30-00.gh-issue-158841.pK3vNd.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..eda6d7daefa48d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-14-30-00.gh-issue-158841.pK3vNd.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Fix a crash in :func:`pickle.load` and :class:`pickle.Unpickler` when the
+``read()`` method of the file object returns an instance of a :class:`bytes`
+subclass and the requested size is large.
diff --git a/Modules/_testcapi/bytes.c b/Modules/_testcapi/bytes.c
index 605df203d6fc9a4..11e216e7c6c3b95 100644
--- a/Modules/_testcapi/bytes.c
+++ b/Modules/_testcapi/bytes.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ bytes_resize(PyObject *Py_UNUSED(module), PyObject *args, PyObject *kwargs)
     NULLABLE(obj);
     if (new) {
         assert(obj != NULL);
-        assert(PyBytes_CheckExact(obj));
+        assert(PyBytes_Check(obj));
         PyObject *newobj = PyBytes_FromStringAndSize(NULL, PyBytes_Size(obj));
         if (newobj == NULL) {
             return NULL;
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ bytes_resize(PyObject *Py_UNUSED(module), PyObject *args, PyObject *kwargs)
         assert(obj != NULL);
     }
 
+    assert(PyBytes_CheckExact(obj));
     Py_ssize_t refcnt = Py_REFCNT(obj);
     return Py_BuildValue("Nnp", obj, refcnt, obj != old_obj);
 }
diff --git a/Objects/bytesobject.c b/Objects/bytesobject.c
index 1917055d25198f1..c354b001e317747 100644
--- a/Objects/bytesobject.c
+++ b/Objects/bytesobject.c
@@ -3457,7 +3457,7 @@ bytes_resize_inplace(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
 }
 
 
-/* The following function breaks the notion that bytes are immutable:
+/* The _PyBytes_Resize function breaks the notion that bytes are immutable:
    it changes the size of a bytes object.  You can think of it
    as creating a new bytes object and destroying the old one, only
    more efficiently.
@@ -3467,8 +3467,39 @@ bytes_resize_inplace(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
    returned, and the value in *pv may or may not be the same as on input.
    As always, an extra byte is allocated for a trailing \0 byte (newsize
    does *not* include that), and a trailing \0 byte is stored.
+
+   The result is always of the exact bytes type.
+   If the input is "fresh" (_PyBytes_IsMutable is true), the result will
+   be empty or "fresh".
 */
 
+// Return a copy. Called when the existing object cannot be reused.
+static int
+bytes_resize_newobject(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
+{
+    PyObject *v = *pv;
+    if (newsize == 0) {
+        *pv = bytes_get_empty();
+        assert(*pv != NULL);
+    }
+    else {
+        Py_ssize_t oldsize = PyBytes_GET_SIZE(v);
+        // Allocate and then copy so we don't get a shared immortal
+        // one-character singleton!
+        PyObject *result = bytes_alloc(newsize);
+        if (!result) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        memcpy(PyBytes_AS_STRING(result), PyBytes_AS_STRING(v),
+                Py_MIN(oldsize, newsize));
+        *pv = result;
+        assert(_PyBytes_IsMutable(*pv));
+    }
+    Py_DECREF(v);
+    return 0;
+}
+
 // Similar to _PyBytes_Resize(), but leaves the object unchanged on error.
 int
 _PyBytes_ResizeKeepOnError(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
@@ -3480,6 +3511,10 @@ _PyBytes_ResizeKeepOnError(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (!PyBytes_CheckExact(v)) {
+        return bytes_resize_newobject(pv, newsize);
+    }
+
     Py_ssize_t oldsize = PyBytes_GET_SIZE(v);
     if (oldsize == newsize) {
         // Leave the object unchanged if the new size is the same as the old
@@ -3501,7 +3536,8 @@ _PyBytes_ResizeKeepOnError(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
     }
 
     if (newsize == 0) {
-        *pv = bytes_get_empty();  // cannot fail
+        *pv = bytes_get_empty();
+        assert(*pv != NULL);
         Py_DECREF(v);
         return 0;
     }
@@ -3510,19 +3546,7 @@ _PyBytes_ResizeKeepOnError(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
         // Return a copy if the hash value was already computed
         || get_ob_shash((PyBytesObject *)v) != -1)
     {
-        // Allocate and then copy so we don't get a shared immortal
-        // one-character singleton!
-        PyObject *result = bytes_alloc(newsize);
-        if (!result) {
-            return -1;
-        }
-
-        memcpy(PyBytes_AS_STRING(result), PyBytes_AS_STRING(v),
-               Py_MIN(oldsize, newsize));
-        *pv = result;
-        Py_DECREF(v);
-        assert(_PyBytes_IsMutable(*pv));
-        return 0;
+        return bytes_resize_newobject(pv, newsize);
     }
 
     return bytes_resize_inplace(pv, newsize);
@@ -3534,9 +3558,7 @@ _PyBytes_Resize(PyObject **pv, Py_ssize_t newsize)
 {
     int res = _PyBytes_ResizeKeepOnError(pv, newsize);
     if (res < 0) {
-        PyObject *v = *pv;
-        *pv = NULL;
-        Py_DECREF(v);
+        Py_CLEAR(*pv);
     }
     return res;
 }