diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 99e5864..9f44edc 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -2518,6 +2518,8 @@
 			 CloseHandle(hChildStderrRdDup);
 
 		 f = Py_BuildValue("OO",p1,p2);
+		 Py_XDECREF(p1);
+		 Py_XDECREF(p2);
 		 file_count = 2;
 		 break;
 	 }
@@ -2548,6 +2550,9 @@
 		 PyFile_SetBufSize(p2, 0);
 		 PyFile_SetBufSize(p3, 0);
 		 f = Py_BuildValue("OOO",p1,p2,p3);
+		 Py_XDECREF(p1);
+		 Py_XDECREF(p2);
+		 Py_XDECREF(p3);
 		 file_count = 3;
 		 break;
 	 }