diff --git a/Lib/shelve.py b/Lib/shelve.py
index fb41c844e4f..8055f42e229 100644
--- a/Lib/shelve.py
+++ b/Lib/shelve.py
@@ -145,7 +145,11 @@ class Shelf(UserDict.DictMixin):
             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 2eccbabe9e4..0d86fe75311 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 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.