Backport #8966 into 3.17.x

[jtattermusch]

Backports #8966.

[acozzette]

@jtattermusch Are you sure you need this fix on the 3.17.x branch? We're probably not going to be doing any more 3.17.x releases.

[jtattermusch]

@jtattermusch Are you sure you need this fix on the 3.17.x branch? We're probably going to be doing any more 3.17.x releases.

I'd say let's merge it anyway

• Even in case we're not going to make any more 3.17.x release, the PR on the branch AFTER the release tag makes it clear that this fix in not included.
• In case we decide to do a patch release for 3.17.x, this is going to be ready.

Btw, without this fix, the python aarch64 linux wheels we published for 3.17.x release are broken (their python_cpp layer won't work, only the pure python version will be usable) - just mentioning that to make the impact clear.