diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index fce3fa2d34..23a09bd8b8 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -819,6 +819,10 @@ PYBIND11_NAMESPACE_END(detail)
     : Parent(check_(o) ? o.release().ptr() : ConvertFun(o.ptr()), stolen_t{}) \
     { if (!m_ptr) throw error_already_set(); }
 
+#define PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT_DEFAULT(Name, Parent, CheckFun, ConvertFun) \
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(Name, Parent, CheckFun, ConvertFun) \
+    Name() : Parent() { }
+
 #define PYBIND11_OBJECT_CHECK_FAILED(Name, o_ptr) \
     ::pybind11::type_error("Object of type '" + \
                            ::pybind11::detail::get_fully_qualified_tp_name(Py_TYPE(o_ptr)) + \
@@ -1168,11 +1172,16 @@ class float_ : public object {
 
 class weakref : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(weakref, object, PyWeakref_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT_DEFAULT(weakref, object, PyWeakref_Check, raw_weakref)
     explicit weakref(handle obj, handle callback = {})
         : object(PyWeakref_NewRef(obj.ptr(), callback.ptr()), stolen_t{}) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate weak reference!");
     }
+
+private:
+    static PyObject *raw_weakref(PyObject *o) {
+        return PyWeakref_NewRef(o, nullptr);
+    }
 };
 
 class slice : public object {
diff --git a/tests/test_pytypes.cpp b/tests/test_pytypes.cpp
index d8fd77a9bb..f07b1fba2e 100644
--- a/tests/test_pytypes.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_pytypes.cpp
@@ -424,4 +424,14 @@ TEST_SUBMODULE(pytypes, m) {
     m.def("pass_to_pybind11_bytes", [](py::bytes b) { return py::len(b); });
     m.def("pass_to_pybind11_str", [](py::str s) { return py::len(s); });
     m.def("pass_to_std_string", [](std::string s) { return s.size(); });
+
+    // test_weakref
+    m.def("weakref_from_handle",
+          [](py::handle h) { return py::weakref(h); });
+    m.def("weakref_from_handle_and_function",
+          [](py::handle h, py::function f) { return py::weakref(h, f); });
+    m.def("weakref_from_object",
+          [](py::object o) { return py::weakref(o); });
+    m.def("weakref_from_object_and_function",
+          [](py::object o, py::function f) { return py::weakref(o, f); });
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_pytypes.py b/tests/test_pytypes.py
index 301015ae4d..cebbd4791e 100644
--- a/tests/test_pytypes.py
+++ b/tests/test_pytypes.py
@@ -541,3 +541,37 @@ def test_pass_bytes_or_unicode_to_string_types():
     else:
         with pytest.raises(TypeError):
             m.pass_to_pybind11_str(malformed_utf8)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "create_weakref, create_weakref_with_callback",
+    [
+        (m.weakref_from_handle, m.weakref_from_handle_and_function),
+        (m.weakref_from_object, m.weakref_from_object_and_function),
+    ],
+)
+def test_weakref(create_weakref, create_weakref_with_callback):
+    from weakref import getweakrefcount
+
+    # Apparently, you cannot weakly reference an object()
+    class WeaklyReferenced(object):
+        pass
+
+    def callback(wr):
+        # No `nonlocal` in Python 2
+        callback.called = True
+
+    obj = WeaklyReferenced()
+    assert getweakrefcount(obj) == 0
+    wr = create_weakref(obj)  # noqa: F841
+    assert getweakrefcount(obj) == 1
+
+    obj = WeaklyReferenced()
+    assert getweakrefcount(obj) == 0
+    callback.called = False
+    wr = create_weakref_with_callback(obj, callback)  # noqa: F841
+    assert getweakrefcount(obj) == 1
+    assert not callback.called
+    del obj
+    pytest.gc_collect()
+    assert callback.called