diff --git a/Lib/importlib/_common.py b/Lib/importlib/_common.py
index b15c59eb9c98af..71ce6af8cc9851 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/_common.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/_common.py
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ def _tempfile(reader, suffix=''):
     try:
         os.write(fd, reader())
         os.close(fd)
+        del reader
         yield pathlib.Path(raw_path)
     finally:
         try:
@@ -97,14 +98,12 @@ def _tempfile(reader, suffix=''):
 
 
 @functools.singledispatch
-@contextlib.contextmanager
 def as_file(path):
     """
     Given a Traversable object, return that object as a
     path on the local file system in a context manager.
     """
-    with _tempfile(path.read_bytes, suffix=path.name) as local:
-        yield local
+    return _tempfile(path.read_bytes, suffix=path.name)
 
 
 @as_file.register(pathlib.Path)
diff --git a/Lib/importlib/readers.py b/Lib/importlib/readers.py
index 6331e4daf4313c..74a63e4a7535bd 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/readers.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/readers.py
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ def files(self):
 class ZipReader(abc.TraversableResources):
     def __init__(self, loader, module):
         _, _, name = module.rpartition('.')
-        prefix = loader.prefix.replace('\\', '/') + name + '/'
-        self.path = zipfile.Path(loader.archive, prefix)
+        self.prefix = loader.prefix.replace('\\', '/') + name + '/'
+        self.archive = loader.archive
 
     def open_resource(self, resource):
         try:
@@ -38,4 +38,4 @@ def is_resource(self, path):
         return target.is_file() and target.exists()
 
     def files(self):
-        return self.path
+        return zipfile.Path(self.archive, self.prefix)
diff --git a/Lib/importlib/resources.py b/Lib/importlib/resources.py
index 4535619f4f0143..4169171b189cca 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/resources.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/resources.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import os
+import io
 
 from . import _common
 from ._common import as_file, files
-from contextlib import contextmanager, suppress
+from contextlib import suppress
 from importlib.abc import ResourceLoader
 from io import BytesIO, TextIOWrapper
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -10,6 +11,8 @@
 from typing import ContextManager, Iterable, Union
 from typing import cast
 from typing.io import BinaryIO, TextIO
+from collections.abc import Sequence
+from functools import singledispatch
 
 
 __all__ = [
@@ -102,22 +105,26 @@ def path(
     """
     reader = _common.get_resource_reader(_common.get_package(package))
     return (
-        _path_from_reader(reader, resource)
+        _path_from_reader(reader, _common.normalize_path(resource))
         if reader else
         _common.as_file(
             _common.files(package).joinpath(_common.normalize_path(resource)))
         )
 
 
-@contextmanager
 def _path_from_reader(reader, resource):
-    norm_resource = _common.normalize_path(resource)
+    return _path_from_resource_path(reader, resource) or \
+        _path_from_open_resource(reader, resource)
+
+
+def _path_from_resource_path(reader, resource):
     with suppress(FileNotFoundError):
-        yield Path(reader.resource_path(norm_resource))
-        return
-    opener_reader = reader.open_resource(norm_resource)
-    with _common._tempfile(opener_reader.read, suffix=norm_resource) as res:
-        yield res
+        return Path(reader.resource_path(resource))
+
+
+def _path_from_open_resource(reader, resource):
+    saved = io.BytesIO(reader.open_resource(resource).read())
+    return _common._tempfile(saved.read, suffix=resource)
 
 
 def is_resource(package: Package, name: str) -> bool:
@@ -146,7 +153,7 @@ def contents(package: Package) -> Iterable[str]:
     package = _common.get_package(package)
     reader = _common.get_resource_reader(package)
     if reader is not None:
-        return reader.contents()
+        return _ensure_sequence(reader.contents())
     # Is the package a namespace package?  By definition, namespace packages
     # cannot have resources.
     namespace = (
@@ -156,3 +163,13 @@ def contents(package: Package) -> Iterable[str]:
     if namespace or not package.__spec__.has_location:
         return ()
     return list(item.name for item in _common.from_package(package).iterdir())
+
+
+@singledispatch
+def _ensure_sequence(iterable):
+    return list(iterable)
+
+
+@_ensure_sequence.register(Sequence)
+def _(iterable):
+    return iterable
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_importlib/test_resource.py b/Lib/test/test_importlib/test_resource.py
index f88d92d1546729..1d1bdad1b218df 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_importlib/test_resource.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_importlib/test_resource.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 import sys
 import unittest
+import uuid
+import pathlib
 
 from . import data01
 from . import zipdata01, zipdata02
 from . import util
 from importlib import resources, import_module
+from test.support import import_helper
+from test.support.os_helper import unlink
 
 
 class ResourceTests:
@@ -162,5 +166,80 @@ def test_namespaces_cannot_have_resources(self):
             'test.test_importlib.data03.namespace', 'resource1.txt')
 
 
+class DeletingZipsTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Having accessed resources in a zip file should not keep an open
+    reference to the zip.
+    """
+    ZIP_MODULE = zipdata01
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        modules = import_helper.modules_setup()
+        self.addCleanup(import_helper.modules_cleanup, *modules)
+
+        data_path = pathlib.Path(self.ZIP_MODULE.__file__)
+        data_dir = data_path.parent
+        self.source_zip_path = data_dir / 'ziptestdata.zip'
+        self.zip_path = pathlib.Path('{}.zip'.format(uuid.uuid4())).absolute()
+        self.zip_path.write_bytes(self.source_zip_path.read_bytes())
+        sys.path.append(str(self.zip_path))
+        self.data = import_module('ziptestdata')
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        try:
+            sys.path.remove(str(self.zip_path))
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
+
+        try:
+            del sys.path_importer_cache[str(self.zip_path)]
+            del sys.modules[self.data.__name__]
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+
+        try:
+            unlink(self.zip_path)
+        except OSError:
+            # If the test fails, this will probably fail too
+            pass
+
+    def test_contents_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.contents('ziptestdata')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    def test_is_resource_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.is_resource('ziptestdata', 'binary.file')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    def test_is_resource_failure_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.is_resource('ziptestdata', 'not-present')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    @unittest.skip("Desired but not supported.")
+    def test_path_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.path('ziptestdata', 'binary.file')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    def test_entered_path_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        # This is what certifi does on import to make its bundle
+        # available for the process duration.
+        c = resources.path('ziptestdata', 'binary.file').__enter__()
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    def test_read_binary_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.read_binary('ziptestdata', 'binary.file')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+    def test_read_text_does_not_keep_open(self):
+        c = resources.read_text('ziptestdata', 'utf-8.file', encoding='utf-8')
+        self.zip_path.unlink()
+        del c
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata01/ziptestdata.zip b/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata01/ziptestdata.zip
index 8d8fa97f199cc2..12f7872cd596ac 100644
Binary files a/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata01/ziptestdata.zip and b/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata01/ziptestdata.zip differ
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata02/ziptestdata.zip b/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata02/ziptestdata.zip
index 6f348899a80491..9ee00586e75f1f 100644
Binary files a/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata02/ziptestdata.zip and b/Lib/test/test_importlib/zipdata02/ziptestdata.zip differ
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-10-23-08-54-47.bpo-41490.-Yk6OD.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-10-23-08-54-47.bpo-41490.-Yk6OD.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..5ad6af3d148e3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-10-23-08-54-47.bpo-41490.-Yk6OD.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+In ``importlib.resources``, ``.path`` method is more aggressive about
+releasing handles to zipfile objects early, enabling use-cases like certifi
+to leave the context open but delete the underlying zip file.