diff --git a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
index 695f7733305ed7..6acac6f80dc448 100644
--- a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
+++ b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
@@ -640,10 +640,6 @@ def __init__(self, max_workers=None, mp_context=None,
 
             self._max_workers = max_workers
 
-        if mp_context is None:
-            mp_context = mp.get_context()
-        self._mp_context = mp_context
-
         if initializer is not None and not callable(initializer):
             raise TypeError("initializer must be a callable")
         self._initializer = initializer
@@ -654,8 +650,16 @@ def __init__(self, max_workers=None, mp_context=None,
                 raise TypeError("max_tasks_per_child must be an integer")
             elif max_tasks_per_child <= 0:
                 raise ValueError("max_tasks_per_child must be >= 1")
+            if mp_context is None:
+                mp_context = mp.get_context("spawn")
+            if mp_context._name == "fork":
+                raise ValueError("max_tasks_per_child cannot be used with a fork context")
         self._max_tasks_per_child = max_tasks_per_child
 
+        if mp_context is None:
+            mp_context = mp.get_context()
+        self._mp_context = mp_context
+
         # Management thread
         self._executor_manager_thread = None
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2022-03-29-21-33-41.bpo-44733.VbHuf9.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2022-03-29-21-33-41.bpo-44733.VbHuf9.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..43111d4b5cc857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2022-03-29-21-33-41.bpo-44733.VbHuf9.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Ensured that ``max_tasks_per_child`` is not used with a fork context.