diff --git a/Lib/encodings/__init__.py b/Lib/encodings/__init__.py
index ddd5afdcf2dab0..b4575d5a8d5385 100644
--- a/Lib/encodings/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/encodings/__init__.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 _cache = {}
 _unknown = '--unknown--'
 _import_tail = ['*']
-_aliases = aliases.aliases
+
 
 class CodecRegistryError(LookupError, SystemError):
     pass
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ def search_function(encoding):
     # try in the encodings package, then at top-level.
     #
     norm_encoding = normalize_encoding(encoding)
-    aliased_encoding = _aliases.get(norm_encoding) or \
-                       _aliases.get(norm_encoding.replace('.', '_'))
+    aliased_encoding = aliases.aliases.get(norm_encoding) or \
+                       aliases.aliases.get(norm_encoding.replace('.', '_'))
     if aliased_encoding is not None:
         modnames = [aliased_encoding,
                     norm_encoding]
@@ -145,8 +145,8 @@ def search_function(encoding):
         pass
     else:
         for alias in codecaliases:
-            if alias not in _aliases:
-                _aliases[alias] = modname
+            if alias not in aliases.aliases:
+                aliases.aliases[alias] = modname
 
     # Return the registry entry
     return entry
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-08-16-11-11-30.bpo-1635741.Q5Zrx3.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-08-16-11-11-30.bpo-1635741.Q5Zrx3.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ef49d2580f3cb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-08-16-11-11-30.bpo-1635741.Q5Zrx3.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix refleaks of `encodings.aliases` by using `encodings.aliases` directly in
+:func:`encodings.search_function`.