diff --git a/stdlib/3/email/message.pyi b/stdlib/3/email/message.pyi
index 36b2fdc65..85bba630b 100644
--- a/stdlib/3/email/message.pyi
+++ b/stdlib/3/email/message.pyi
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class Message:
     def set_unixfrom(self, unixfrom: str) -> None: ...
     def get_unixfrom(self) -> Optional[str]: ...
     def attach(self, payload: Message) -> None: ...
-    def get_payload(self, i: int = ..., decode: bool = ...) -> Optional[_PayloadType]: ...
+    def get_payload(self, i: int = ..., decode: bool = ...) -> Any: ...  # returns Optional[_PayloadType]
     def set_payload(self, payload: _PayloadType,
                     charset: _CharsetType = ...) -> None: ...
     def set_charset(self, charset: _CharsetType) -> None: ...