diff --git a/Objects/fileobject.c b/Objects/fileobject.c
index 55e074b..9ae068c 100644
--- a/Objects/fileobject.c
+++ b/Objects/fileobject.c
@@ -574,10 +574,8 @@
         oerrors = Py_None;
         Py_INCREF(Py_None);
     }
-    Py_DECREF(file->f_encoding);
-    file->f_encoding = str;
-    Py_DECREF(file->f_errors);
-    file->f_errors = oerrors;
+    Py_SETREF(file->f_encoding, str);
+    Py_SETREF(file->f_errors, oerrors);
     return 1;
 }