diff --git a/changelog/7913.bugfix.rst b/changelog/7913.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8c4613bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/7913.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed a crash or hang in ``pytester.spawn`` when the ``readline`` module is involved.
diff --git a/src/_pytest/pytester.py b/src/_pytest/pytester.py
index a1768363b..935be84c1 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/pytester.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/pytester.py
@@ -707,8 +707,11 @@ class Pytester:
         # Some zope modules used by twisted-related tests keep internal state
         # and can't be deleted; we had some trouble in the past with
         # `zope.interface` for example.
+        #
+        # Preserve readline due to https://bugs.python.org/issue41033.
+        # pexpect issues a SIGWINCH.
         def preserve_module(name):
-            return name.startswith("zope")
+            return name.startswith(("zope", "readline"))
 
         return SysModulesSnapshot(preserve=preserve_module)