diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 1e76e10222b..f7355268fd1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -490,6 +490,8 @@ Extension Modules
 Build
 -----
 
+- Switch to OpenSSL 0.9.8l on Windows.
+
 - Issue #5792: Extend the short float repr support to x86 systems using
   icc or suncc.
 
diff --git a/PCbuild/pyproject.vsprops b/PCbuild/pyproject.vsprops
index aa801a10d20..b475e7abe80 100644
--- a/PCbuild/pyproject.vsprops
+++ b/PCbuild/pyproject.vsprops
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 	/>
 	<UserMacro
 		Name="opensslDir"
-		Value="$(externalsDir)\openssl-0.9.8g"
+		Value="$(externalsDir)\openssl-0.9.8l"
 	/>
 	<UserMacro
 		Name="tcltkDir"
diff --git a/PCbuild/readme.txt b/PCbuild/readme.txt
index 1a5f3012b3a..67714c0f41d 100644
--- a/PCbuild/readme.txt
+++ b/PCbuild/readme.txt
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ _ssl
 
     Get the source code through
 
-    svn export http://svn.python.org/projects/external/openssl-0.9.8g
+    svn export http://svn.python.org/projects/external/openssl-0.9.8l
 
     ** NOTE: if you use the Tools\buildbot\external(-amd64).bat approach for
     obtaining external sources then you don't need to manually get the source
diff --git a/Tools/buildbot/external-common.bat b/Tools/buildbot/external-common.bat
index edcc82d74d2..aba7fa9e6ad 100644
--- a/Tools/buildbot/external-common.bat
+++ b/Tools/buildbot/external-common.bat
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ cd ..
 @rem if exist tk8.4.16 rd /s/q tk8.4.16
 @rem if exist tk-8.4.18.1 rd /s/q tk-8.4.18.1
 @rem if exist db-4.4.20 rd /s/q db-4.4.20
-@rem if exist openssl-0.9.8g rd /s/q openssl-0.9.8g
+@rem if exist openssl-0.9.8l rd /s/q openssl-0.9.8l
 @rem if exist sqlite-3.5.9 rd /s/q sqlite-3.5.9    
 
 @rem bzip
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ if not exist bzip2-1.0.5 (
 if not exist db-4.4.20 svn export http://svn.python.org/projects/external/db-4.4.20-vs9 db-4.4.20
 
 @rem OpenSSL
-if not exist openssl-0.9.8g svn export http://svn.python.org/projects/external/openssl-0.9.8g
+if not exist openssl-0.9.8l svn export http://svn.python.org/projects/external/openssl-0.9.8l
 
 @rem tcl/tk
 if not exist tcl-8.5.2.1 (