diff --git a/Lib/zoneinfo/_zoneinfo.py b/Lib/zoneinfo/_zoneinfo.py
index 3ffdb4c837192b..bd3fefc6c9d959 100644
--- a/Lib/zoneinfo/_zoneinfo.py
+++ b/Lib/zoneinfo/_zoneinfo.py
@@ -47,7 +47,11 @@ def __new__(cls, key):
         cls._strong_cache[key] = cls._strong_cache.pop(key, instance)
 
         if len(cls._strong_cache) > cls._strong_cache_size:
-            cls._strong_cache.popitem(last=False)
+            try:
+                cls._strong_cache.popitem(last=False)
+            except KeyError:
+                # another thread may have already emptied the cache
+                pass
 
         return instance
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-00-00-00.gh-issue-142763.AJpZPVG5.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-00-00-00.gh-issue-142763.AJpZPVG5.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a5330365e3e42e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-00-00-00.gh-issue-142763.AJpZPVG5.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix a race condition between :class:`zoneinfo.ZoneInfo` creation and
+:func:`zoneinfo.ZoneInfo.clear_cache` that could raise :exc:`KeyError`.