diff --git a/Modules/zipimport.c b/Modules/zipimport.c
index ff8dedf..24439e0 100644
--- a/Modules/zipimport.c
+++ b/Modules/zipimport.c
@@ -832,10 +832,8 @@
             }
             Py_XDECREF(self->files);  /* free the old value. */
             self->files = files;
-        } else {
-            /* No problem, discard the new stat data. */
-            Py_DECREF(stat_now);
         }
+        Py_DECREF(stat_now);
     }  /* stat succeeded */
 
     return fp;