diff --git a/Python/import.c b/Python/import.c
index c4f087761cd65f..344f199216d09f 100644
--- a/Python/import.c
+++ b/Python/import.c
@@ -749,7 +749,6 @@ _PyImport_FindExtensionObjectEx(PyObject *name, PyObject *filename,
     }
     if (_PyState_AddModule(mod, def) < 0) {
         PyMapping_DelItem(modules, name);
-        Py_DECREF(mod);
         return NULL;
     }
     if (Py_VerboseFlag)