diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-12-17-23-20-51.bpo-39028.SND4TB.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-12-17-23-20-51.bpo-39028.SND4TB.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ee7639ead9dd93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-12-17-23-20-51.bpo-39028.SND4TB.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Slightly improve the speed of keyword argument parsing with many kwargs by strengthening the assumption that kwargs are interned strings.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Python/getargs.c b/Python/getargs.c
index 351889f8e51895..d5caf47a02838e 100644
--- a/Python/getargs.c
+++ b/Python/getargs.c
@@ -2053,14 +2053,18 @@ find_keyword(PyObject *kwnames, PyObject *const *kwstack, PyObject *key)
     Py_ssize_t i, nkwargs;
 
     nkwargs = PyTuple_GET_SIZE(kwnames);
-    for (i=0; i < nkwargs; i++) {
+    for (i = 0; i < nkwargs; i++) {
         PyObject *kwname = PyTuple_GET_ITEM(kwnames, i);
 
-        /* ptr==ptr should match in most cases since keyword keys
-           should be interned strings */
+        /* kwname == key will normally find a match in since keyword keys
+           should be interned strings; if not retry below in a new loop. */
         if (kwname == key) {
             return kwstack[i];
         }
+    }
+
+    for (i = 0; i < nkwargs; i++) {
+        PyObject *kwname = PyTuple_GET_ITEM(kwnames, i);
         assert(PyUnicode_Check(kwname));
         if (_PyUnicode_EQ(kwname, key)) {
             return kwstack[i];