diff --git a/Parser/action_helpers.c b/Parser/action_helpers.c
index 5ac1dd7813689c..d44fedaec53533 100644
--- a/Parser/action_helpers.c
+++ b/Parser/action_helpers.c
@@ -969,8 +969,6 @@ _PyPegen_check_fstring_conversion(Parser *p, Token* conv_token, expr_ty conv)
     return result_token_with_metadata(p, conv, conv_token->metadata);
 }
 
-static asdl_expr_seq *
-unpack_top_level_joined_strs(Parser *p, asdl_expr_seq *raw_expressions);
 ResultTokenWithMetadata *
 _PyPegen_setup_full_format_spec(Parser *p, Token *colon, asdl_expr_seq *spec, int lineno, int col_offset,
                                 int end_lineno, int end_col_offset, PyArena *arena)
@@ -1251,7 +1249,6 @@ _PyPegen_nonparen_genexp_in_call(Parser *p, expr_ty args, asdl_comprehension_seq
 static expr_ty
 _PyPegen_decode_fstring_part(Parser* p, int is_raw, expr_ty constant, Token* token) {
     assert(PyUnicode_CheckExact(constant->v.Constant.value));
-
     const char* bstr = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(constant->v.Constant.value);
     if (bstr == NULL) {
         return NULL;
@@ -1279,9 +1276,9 @@ _PyPegen_decode_fstring_part(Parser* p, int is_raw, expr_ty constant, Token* tok
                            p->arena);
 }
 
-static asdl_expr_seq *
-unpack_top_level_joined_strs(Parser *p, asdl_expr_seq *raw_expressions)
-{
+expr_ty
+_PyPegen_joined_str(Parser *p, Token* a, asdl_expr_seq* expr, Token*b) {
+
     /* The parser might put multiple f-string values into an individual
      * JoinedStr node at the top level due to stuff like f-string debugging
      * expressions. This function flattens those and promotes them to the
@@ -1289,44 +1286,14 @@ unpack_top_level_joined_strs(Parser *p, asdl_expr_seq *raw_expressions)
      * of the regular output, so this is not necessary if you are not going
      * to expose the output AST to Python level. */
 
-    Py_ssize_t i, req_size, raw_size;
-
-    req_size = raw_size = asdl_seq_LEN(raw_expressions);
-    expr_ty expr;
-    for (i = 0; i < raw_size; i++) {
-        expr = asdl_seq_GET(raw_expressions, i);
-        if (expr->kind == JoinedStr_kind) {
-            req_size += asdl_seq_LEN(expr->v.JoinedStr.values) - 1;
-        }
-    }
-
-    asdl_expr_seq *expressions = _Py_asdl_expr_seq_new(req_size, p->arena);
-    if (expressions == NULL) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    Py_ssize_t raw_index, req_index = 0;
-    for (raw_index = 0; raw_index < raw_size; raw_index++) {
-        expr = asdl_seq_GET(raw_expressions, raw_index);
-        if (expr->kind == JoinedStr_kind) {
-            asdl_expr_seq *values = expr->v.JoinedStr.values;
-            for (Py_ssize_t n = 0; n < asdl_seq_LEN(values); n++) {
-                asdl_seq_SET(expressions, req_index, asdl_seq_GET(values, n));
-                req_index++;
-            }
-        } else {
-            asdl_seq_SET(expressions, req_index, expr);
-            req_index++;
+    Py_ssize_t n_items = asdl_seq_LEN(expr);
+    Py_ssize_t total_items = n_items;
+    for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < n_items; i++) {
+        expr_ty item = asdl_seq_GET(expr, i);
+        if (item->kind == JoinedStr_kind) {
+            total_items += asdl_seq_LEN(item->v.JoinedStr.values) - 1;
         }
     }
-    return expressions;
-}
-
-expr_ty
-_PyPegen_joined_str(Parser *p, Token* a, asdl_expr_seq* raw_expressions, Token*b) {
-
-    asdl_expr_seq *expr = unpack_top_level_joined_strs(p, raw_expressions);
-    Py_ssize_t n_items = asdl_seq_LEN(expr);
 
     const char* quote_str = PyBytes_AsString(a->bytes);
     if (quote_str == NULL) {
@@ -1334,7 +1301,7 @@ _PyPegen_joined_str(Parser *p, Token* a, asdl_expr_seq* raw_expressions, Token*b
     }
     int is_raw = strpbrk(quote_str, "rR") != NULL;
 
-    asdl_expr_seq *seq = _Py_asdl_expr_seq_new(n_items, p->arena);
+    asdl_expr_seq *seq = _Py_asdl_expr_seq_new(total_items, p->arena);
     if (seq == NULL) {
         return NULL;
     }
@@ -1342,6 +1309,29 @@ _PyPegen_joined_str(Parser *p, Token* a, asdl_expr_seq* raw_expressions, Token*b
     Py_ssize_t index = 0;
     for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < n_items; i++) {
         expr_ty item = asdl_seq_GET(expr, i);
+
+        // This should correspond to a JoinedStr node of two elements
+        // created _PyPegen_formatted_value
+        if (item->kind == JoinedStr_kind) {
+            asdl_expr_seq *values = item->v.JoinedStr.values;
+            if (asdl_seq_LEN(values) != 2) {
+                PyErr_Format(PyExc_SystemError,
+                             "unexpected JoinedStr node without debug data in f-string at line %d",
+                             item->lineno);
+                return NULL;
+            }
+
+            expr_ty first = asdl_seq_GET(values, 0);
+            assert(first->kind == Constant_kind);
+            asdl_seq_SET(seq, index++, first);
+
+            expr_ty second = asdl_seq_GET(values, 1);
+            assert(second->kind == FormattedValue_kind);
+            asdl_seq_SET(seq, index++, second);
+
+            continue;
+        }
+
         if (item->kind == Constant_kind) {
             item = _PyPegen_decode_fstring_part(p, is_raw, item, b);
             if (item == NULL) {
@@ -1360,7 +1350,7 @@ _PyPegen_joined_str(Parser *p, Token* a, asdl_expr_seq* raw_expressions, Token*b
     }
 
     asdl_expr_seq *resized_exprs;
-    if (index != n_items) {
+    if (index != total_items) {
         resized_exprs = _Py_asdl_expr_seq_new(index, p->arena);
         if (resized_exprs == NULL) {
             return NULL;
diff --git a/Parser/lexer/lexer.c b/Parser/lexer/lexer.c
index 8c868593f944c8..ddb558066f6e31 100644
--- a/Parser/lexer/lexer.c
+++ b/Parser/lexer/lexer.c
@@ -153,13 +153,13 @@ set_fstring_expr(struct tok_state* tok, struct token *token, char c) {
         }
 
         result[j] = '\0';  // Null-terminate the result string
-        res = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8(result, j, NULL);
+        res = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8Stateful(result, j, NULL, NULL);
         PyMem_Free(result);
     } else {
-        res = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8(
+        res = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8Stateful(
             tok_mode->last_expr_buffer,
             tok_mode->last_expr_size - tok_mode->last_expr_end,
-            NULL
+            NULL, NULL
         );
 
     }