diff --git a/Lib/shelve.py b/Lib/shelve.py
index fb2fa93b010..8271dfeddca 100644
--- a/Lib/shelve.py
+++ b/Lib/shelve.py
@@ -136,7 +136,11 @@ def close(self):
             self.dict.close()
         except AttributeError:
             pass
-        self.dict = _ClosedDict()
+        # _ClosedDict can be None when close is called from __del__ during shutdown
+        if _ClosedDict is None:
+            self.dict = None
+        else:
+            self.dict = _ClosedDict()
 
     def __del__(self):
         if not hasattr(self, 'writeback'):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index cb489dd4f26..762def27c58 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -242,6 +242,9 @@ C-API
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #7835: shelve should no longer produce mysterious warnings during
+  interpreter shutdown.
+
 - Issue #2746: Don't escape ampersands and angle brackets ("&", "<", ">")
   in XML processing instructions and comments.  These raw characters are
   allowed by the XML specification, and are necessary when outputting e.g.