diff --git a/pandas/_libs/internals.pyx b/pandas/_libs/internals.pyx
index 05c4e7bd5e9dc..53e903aab9cb8 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/internals.pyx
+++ b/pandas/_libs/internals.pyx
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
-import weakref
 
 cimport cython
 from cpython.pyport cimport PY_SSIZE_T_MAX
 from cpython.slice cimport PySlice_GetIndicesEx
+from cpython.weakref cimport PyWeakref_NewRef
 from cython cimport Py_ssize_t
 
 import numpy as np
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ cdef class BlockManager:
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Block Placement
 
-    def _rebuild_blknos_and_blklocs(self) -> None:
+    cpdef _rebuild_blknos_and_blklocs(self):
         """
         Update mgr._blknos / mgr._blklocs.
         """
@@ -890,12 +890,12 @@ cdef class BlockValuesRefs:
 
     def __cinit__(self, blk: Block | None = None) -> None:
         if blk is not None:
-            self.referenced_blocks = [weakref.ref(blk)]
+            self.referenced_blocks = [PyWeakref_NewRef(blk, None)]
         else:
             self.referenced_blocks = []
         self.clear_counter = 500  # set reasonably high
 
-    def _clear_dead_references(self, force=False) -> None:
+    cdef _clear_dead_references(self, bint force=False):
         # Use exponential backoff to decide when we want to clear references
         # if force=False. Clearing for every insertion causes slowdowns if
         # all these objects stay alive, e.g. df.items() for wide DataFrames
@@ -910,7 +910,7 @@ cdef class BlockValuesRefs:
             elif nr_of_refs > self.clear_counter:
                 self.clear_counter = max(self.clear_counter * 2, nr_of_refs)
 
-    def add_reference(self, blk: Block) -> None:
+    cpdef add_reference(self, Block blk):
         """Adds a new reference to our reference collection.
 
         Parameters
@@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ cdef class BlockValuesRefs:
             The block that the new references should point to.
         """
         self._clear_dead_references()
-        self.referenced_blocks.append(weakref.ref(blk))
+        self.referenced_blocks.append(PyWeakref_NewRef(blk, None))
 
     def add_index_reference(self, index: object) -> None:
         """Adds a new reference to our reference collection when creating an index.
@@ -930,7 +930,7 @@ cdef class BlockValuesRefs:
             The index that the new reference should point to.
         """
         self._clear_dead_references()
-        self.referenced_blocks.append(weakref.ref(index))
+        self.referenced_blocks.append(PyWeakref_NewRef(index, None))
 
     def has_reference(self) -> bool:
         """Checks if block has foreign references.