diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e1bc832e..e3612481 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # Changelog
 
 ## Unreleased
-* Added option `lib` to JuliaCall. Setting this will skip the discovery subprocess.
+* Add method `pynext(x, d)` to return a default value `d` if there are no more elements.
+* Add option `lib` to JuliaCall. Setting this will skip the discovery subprocess.
 * Bug fixes.
 
 ## 0.9.34 (2026-05-18)
diff --git a/src/Core/builtins.jl b/src/Core/builtins.jl
index 7e772662..10b05c8c 100644
--- a/src/Core/builtins.jl
+++ b/src/Core/builtins.jl
@@ -507,11 +507,27 @@ Equivalent to `iter(x)` in Python.
 pyiter(x) = pynew(errcheck(@autopy x C.PyObject_GetIter(x_)))
 
 """
-    pynext(x)
+    pynext(x, [d])
 
-Equivalent to `next(x)` in Python.
+Equivalent to `next(x, d)` in Python.
+
+Returns the next item from the iterator `x`. If there are no more items, returns `d` if
+given, else raises `StopIteration`.
 """
-pynext(x) = pybuiltins.next(x)
+function pynext(x)
+    ptr = errcheck_ambig(C.PyIter_Next(x))
+    if ptr == C.PyNULL
+        errset(pybuiltins.StopIteration)
+        pythrow()
+    else
+        pynew(ptr)
+    end
+end
+
+function pynext(x, d)
+    ptr = errcheck_ambig(C.PyIter_Next(x))
+    ptr == C.PyNULL ? d : pynew(ptr)
+end
 
 """
     unsafe_pynext(x)
diff --git a/test/Core.jl b/test/Core.jl
index 22c69e37..0327b05b 100644
--- a/test/Core.jl
+++ b/test/Core.jl
@@ -223,25 +223,45 @@
 end
 
 @testitem "iter" begin
-    @test_throws PyException pyiter(pybuiltins.None)
-    @test_throws PyException pyiter(pybuiltins.True)
-    # unsafe_pynext
-    it = pyiter(pyrange(2))
-    x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
-    @test !PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
-    @test pyeq(Bool, x, 0)
-    x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
-    @test !PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
-    @test pyeq(Bool, x, 1)
-    x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
-    @test PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
-    # pynext
-    it = pyiter(pyrange(2))
-    x = pynext(it)
-    @test pyeq(Bool, x, 0)
-    x = pynext(it)
-    @test pyeq(Bool, x, 1)
-    @test_throws PyException pynext(it)
+    @testset "non-iterables" begin
+        @test_throws PyException pyiter(pybuiltins.None)
+        @test_throws PyException pyiter(pybuiltins.True)
+    end
+    @testset "unsafe_pynext" begin
+        it = pyiter(pyrange(2))
+        x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test !PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 0)
+        x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test !PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 1)
+        x = PythonCall.unsafe_pynext(it)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test PythonCall.pyisnull(x)
+    end
+    @testset "pynext" begin
+        it = pyiter(pyrange(2))
+        x = pynext(it)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 0)
+        x = pynext(it)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 1)
+        @test_throws PyException pynext(it)
+    end
+    @testset "pynext with default" begin
+        it = pyiter(pyrange(2))
+        x = pynext(it, nothing)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 0)
+        x = pynext(it, nothing)
+        @test x isa Py
+        @test pyeq(Bool, x, 1)
+        x = pynext(it, nothing)
+        @test x === nothing
+    end
 end
 
 @testitem "number" begin