diff --git a/ddtrace/appsec/_iast/_taint_tracking/_native.cpp b/ddtrace/appsec/_iast/_taint_tracking/_native.cpp
index 8bf7affcc9c..af973ecd7e9 100644
--- a/ddtrace/appsec/_iast/_taint_tracking/_native.cpp
+++ b/ddtrace/appsec/_iast/_taint_tracking/_native.cpp
@@ -63,9 +63,6 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(_native, m)
 {
     initializer = make_unique<Initializer>();
     initializer->create_context();
-    // Cleanup code to be run at the end of the interpreter lifetime:
-    auto atexit = py::module::import("atexit");
-    atexit.attr("register")(py::cpp_function([] { initializer.reset(); }));
 
     m.doc() = "Native Python module";
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/iast-fix-remove-unneeded-atexit-handler-2a2f7e193c457666.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/iast-fix-remove-unneeded-atexit-handler-2a2f7e193c457666.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..83f37084db1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/iast-fix-remove-unneeded-atexit-handler-2a2f7e193c457666.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Vulnerability Management for Code-level (IAST): Fixes an issue where an atexit handler could lead to a segmentation fault.