In early 1939, an update to the design was introduced as the
PPD-34/38, featuring a few minor changes to make the gun stronger and make magazines more interchangeable. However around the same time the Army withdrew all PPDs into storage in anticipation of the new SVT-38, and only a few NKVD border troops kept theirs. This would soon change again however, with the Winter War giving the Red Army a brutal lesson in just how effective submachineguns could be.


In December of 1939, the weapons began to be re-issued to the Army, and by the middle of January these were supplemented by a drum magazine copied very closely from the Finnish Suomi KP/-31. These drums needed a feed tower to fit into the magazine well and were not considered reliable. About this time, the cooling holes on the barrel jacket were simplified to slots. No more than 15000 PPD-34/38s of all types were manufactured until March 1940.