diff --git a/Lib/email/_encoded_words.py b/Lib/email/_encoded_words.py
index 6795a606de037e..7c2dfb360f95ad 100644
--- a/Lib/email/_encoded_words.py
+++ b/Lib/email/_encoded_words.py
@@ -113,9 +113,14 @@ def decode_b(encoded):
         # The non-alphabet characters are ignored as far as padding
         # goes, but we don't know how many there are.  So try without adding
         # padding to see if it works.
+        #
+        # We use urlsafe_b64decode here because some mailers apparently use the
+        # urlsafe b64 alphabet, and urlsafe_b64decode will correctly decode
+        # both the urlsafe and regular alphabets.
+
         try:
             return (
-                base64.b64decode(encoded, validate=False),
+                base64.urlsafe_b64decode(encoded),
                 [errors.InvalidBase64CharactersDefect()],
             )
         except binascii.Error:
@@ -123,7 +128,7 @@ def decode_b(encoded):
             # is ignored).
             try:
                 return (
-                    base64.b64decode(encoded + b'==', validate=False),
+                    base64.urlsafe_b64decode(encoded + b'=='),
                     [errors.InvalidBase64CharactersDefect(),
                      errors.InvalidBase64PaddingDefect()],
                 )
diff --git a/Lib/email/base64mime.py b/Lib/email/base64mime.py
index a5a3f737a97b51..3363a5bc45f2d4 100644
--- a/Lib/email/base64mime.py
+++ b/Lib/email/base64mime.py
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
     ]
 
 
-from base64 import b64encode
-from binascii import b2a_base64, a2b_base64
+from base64 import b64encode, urlsafe_b64decode
+from binascii import b2a_base64
 
 CRLF = '\r\n'
 NL = '\n'
@@ -102,12 +102,15 @@ def decode(string):
     base64 (like =?iso-8859-1?b?bmloISBuaWgh?=) -- please use the high
     level email.header class for that functionality.
     """
+    # We use urlsafe_b64decode here because some mailers apparently use the
+    # urlsafe b64 alphabet, and urlsafe_b64decode will correctly decode both
+    # the urlsafe and regular alphabets.
     if not string:
         return bytes()
     elif isinstance(string, str):
-        return a2b_base64(string.encode('raw-unicode-escape'))
+        return urlsafe_b64decode(string.encode('raw-unicode-escape'))
     else:
-        return a2b_base64(string)
+        return urlsafe_b64decode(string)
 
 
 # For convenience and backwards compatibility w/ standard base64 module
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_email/test__encoded_words.py b/Lib/test/test_email/test__encoded_words.py
index 1713962f94caef..2686448565bbbe 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_email/test__encoded_words.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_email/test__encoded_words.py
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ def test_missing_padding(self):
         # 2 missing padding characters
         self._test(b'dg', b'v', [errors.InvalidBase64PaddingDefect])
 
+    def test_urlsafe_alphabet(self):
+        self._test(
+            b'QW5tZWxkdW5nIE5ldHphbnNjaGx1c3MgU_xkcmluZzNwLmpwZw==',
+            b'Anmeldung Netzanschluss S\xfcdring3p.jpg',
+            [errors.InvalidBase64CharactersDefect])
+        # mix of different base64 alphabets
+        self._test(b'aGVsbG8_Pz8/', b'hello????', [errors.InvalidBase64CharactersDefect])
+
     def test_invalid_character(self):
         self._test(b'dm\x01k===', b'vi', [errors.InvalidBase64CharactersDefect])
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py b/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
index b8116d073a2670..03381ea1b72b2f 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
@@ -4663,6 +4663,11 @@ def test_decode(self):
         eq = self.assertEqual
         eq(base64mime.decode(''), b'')
         eq(base64mime.decode('aGVsbG8='), b'hello')
+        eq(base64mime.decode(
+            'QW5tZWxkdW5nIE5ldHphbnNjaGx1c3MgU_xkcmluZzNwLmpwZw=='),
+            b'Anmeldung Netzanschluss S\xfcdring3p.jpg')
+        # mix of different base64 alphabets
+        eq(base64mime.decode('aGVsbG8_Pz8/'), b'hello????')
 
     def test_encode(self):
         eq = self.assertEqual
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-07-19-16-59-16.gh-issue-56698.yHSmT_.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-07-19-16-59-16.gh-issue-56698.yHSmT_.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..d23e7eb2bd4c0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-07-19-16-59-16.gh-issue-56698.yHSmT_.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Accept urlsafe base64 in email headers, as those are sometimes created by
+email clients.