1 files changed, 5 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Python/symtable.c b/Python/symtable.c
index a0b786b3d7..1c291bbac0 100644
--- a/Python/symtable.c
+++ b/Python/symtable.c
@@ -24,16 +24,18 @@ ste_new(struct symtable *st, identifier name, _Py_block_ty block,
         void *key, int lineno, int col_offset)
 {
     PySTEntryObject *ste = NULL;
-    PyObject *k;
+    PyObject *k = NULL;
 
     k = PyLong_FromVoidPtr(key);
     if (k == NULL)
         goto fail;
     ste = PyObject_New(PySTEntryObject, &PySTEntry_Type);
-    if (ste == NULL)
+    if (ste == NULL) {
+        Py_DECREF(k);
         goto fail;
+    }
     ste->ste_table = st;
-    ste->ste_id = k;
+    ste->ste_id = k; /* ste owns reference to k */
 
     ste->ste_name = name;
     Py_INCREF(name);