diff --git a/Lib/warnings.py b/Lib/warnings.py
index ec835b18cee..a81aab3fe56 100644
--- a/Lib/warnings.py
+++ b/Lib/warnings.py
@@ -357,10 +357,10 @@ class catch_warnings(object):
 # If either if the compiled regexs are None, match anything.
 _warnings_defaults = False
 try:
-    from _warnings import (filters, default_action, once_registry,
+    from _warnings import (filters, _defaultaction, _onceregistry,
                             warn, warn_explicit)
-    defaultaction = default_action
-    onceregistry = once_registry
+    defaultaction = _defaultaction
+    onceregistry = _onceregistry
     _warnings_defaults = True
 except ImportError:
     filters = []
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 4673e028b29..d7976bc062e 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ What's New in Python 3.2 Alpha 2?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #9766: Rename poorly named variables exposed by _warnings to prevent
+  confusion with the proper variables names from 'warnings' itself.
+
 - Issue #9212: dict_keys and dict_items now provide the isdisjoint()
   method, to conform to the Set ABC.  Patch by Daniel Urban.
 
diff --git a/Python/_warnings.c b/Python/_warnings.c
index 63bcbffea9f..a4e9d48e8ec 100644
--- a/Python/_warnings.c
+++ b/Python/_warnings.c
@@ -945,13 +945,13 @@ _PyWarnings_Init(void)
     if (_once_registry == NULL)
         return NULL;
     Py_INCREF(_once_registry);
-    if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "once_registry", _once_registry) < 0)
+    if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "_onceregistry", _once_registry) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
     _default_action = PyUnicode_FromString("default");
     if (_default_action == NULL)
         return NULL;
-    if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "default_action", _default_action) < 0)
+    if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "_defaultaction", _default_action) < 0)
         return NULL;
     return m;
 }