diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-04-10-44-36.gh-issue-150889.UYNLR_.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-04-10-44-36.gh-issue-150889.UYNLR_.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..a5cc1da758637c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-04-10-44-36.gh-issue-150889.UYNLR_.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Speed up :func:`unicodedata.normalize` for the NFC and NFKC forms of non-ASCII text up to a factor 2.
diff --git a/Modules/unicodedata.c b/Modules/unicodedata.c
index 60df68216938134..bcdcc624e66f930 100644
--- a/Modules/unicodedata.c
+++ b/Modules/unicodedata.c
@@ -785,15 +785,19 @@ nfd_nfkd(PyObject *self, PyObject *input, int k)
 static int
 find_nfc_index(const struct reindex* nfc, Py_UCS4 code)
 {
-    unsigned int index;
-    for (index = 0; nfc[index].start; index++) {
-        unsigned int start = nfc[index].start;
-        if (code < start)
-            return -1;
-        if (code <= start + nfc[index].count) {
-            unsigned int delta = code - start;
-            return nfc[index].index + delta;
-        }
+    /* The table is sorted by .start ascending with disjoint [start, start+count]
+       ranges and ends with a sentinel whose .start exceeds every codepoint, so
+       a single .start <= code test per entry also stops at the sentinel.  Find
+       the first entry past code, then range-check the candidate (entry i - 1). */
+    unsigned int i;
+    for (i = 0; (Py_UCS4)nfc[i].start <= code; i++) {
+    }
+    if (i == 0) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+    unsigned int start = nfc[i - 1].start;
+    if (code <= start + nfc[i - 1].count) {
+        return nfc[i - 1].index + (code - start);
     }
     return -1;
 }
diff --git a/Modules/unicodedata_db.h b/Modules/unicodedata_db.h
index 9e88f5cca7115b0..1c961c5e329341c 100644
--- a/Modules/unicodedata_db.h
+++ b/Modules/unicodedata_db.h
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ static struct reindex nfc_first[] = {
     { 93539, 0, 388},
     { 93543, 0, 389},
     { 93545, 0, 390},
-    {0,0,0}
+    {0x7fffffff, 0, 0}
 };
 
 static struct reindex nfc_last[] = {
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ static struct reindex nfc_last[] = {
   { 90398, 2, 67},
   { 90409, 0, 70},
   { 93543, 0, 71},
-  {0,0,0}
+  {0x7fffffff, 0, 0}
 };
 
 /* string literals */
diff --git a/Tools/unicode/makeunicodedata.py b/Tools/unicode/makeunicodedata.py
index 5db850ca2d1f0c0..76283d6b794a0b0 100644
--- a/Tools/unicode/makeunicodedata.py
+++ b/Tools/unicode/makeunicodedata.py
@@ -342,15 +342,21 @@ def makeunicodedata(unicode, trace):
         fprint("#define TOTAL_FIRST",total_first)
         fprint("#define TOTAL_LAST",total_last)
         fprint("struct reindex{int start;short count,index;};")
+        # The reindex tables are read only by find_nfc_index(), which scans
+        # forward while .start <= code.  The trailing sentinel's .start must
+        # exceed every codepoint (so the scan stops with a single comparison)
+        # and fit the signed int .start field.
+        nfc_sentinel = 0x7fffffff
+        assert sys.maxunicode < nfc_sentinel <= 0x7fffffff
         fprint("static struct reindex nfc_first[] = {")
         for start,end in comp_first_ranges:
             fprint("    { %d, %d, %d}," % (start,end-start,comp_first[start]))
-        fprint("    {0,0,0}")
+        fprint("    {0x%x, 0, 0}" % nfc_sentinel)
         fprint("};\n")
         fprint("static struct reindex nfc_last[] = {")
         for start,end in comp_last_ranges:
             fprint("  { %d, %d, %d}," % (start,end-start,comp_last[start]))
-        fprint("  {0,0,0}")
+        fprint("  {0x%x, 0, 0}" % nfc_sentinel)
         fprint("};\n")
 
         # FIXME: <fl> the following tables could be made static, and