diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index b096faa..8d04b2d 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -5225,6 +5225,8 @@
 {
     PyUnicodeObject *u = unicode_freelist;
 
+    Py_XDECREF(unicode_empty);
+    unicode_empty = NULL;
     while (u != NULL) {
 	PyUnicodeObject *v = u;
 	u = *(PyUnicodeObject **)u;
@@ -5235,6 +5237,4 @@
     }
     unicode_freelist = NULL;
     unicode_freelist_size = 0;
-    Py_XDECREF(unicode_empty);
-    unicode_empty = NULL;
 }