diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Windows/2025-05-07-13-04-22.gh-issue-133580.jBMujJ.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Windows/2025-05-07-13-04-22.gh-issue-133580.jBMujJ.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..414a6f87e651ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Windows/2025-05-07-13-04-22.gh-issue-133580.jBMujJ.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix :func:`sys.getwindowsversion` failing without setting an exception when called on some WinAPI partitions.
diff --git a/Python/sysmodule.c b/Python/sysmodule.c
index 00dce4527fbb90..84836a7b516d76 100644
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c
@@ -1643,6 +1643,7 @@ static PyObject *
 _sys_getwindowsversion_from_kernel32(void)
 {
 #ifndef MS_WINDOWS_DESKTOP
+    PyErr_SetString(PyExc_OSError, "cannot read version info on this platform");
     return NULL;
 #else
     HANDLE hKernel32;