diff --git a/Python/codecs.c b/Python/codecs.c
index 69498c4..7d1145f 100644
--- a/Python/codecs.c
+++ b/Python/codecs.c
@@ -696,8 +696,10 @@
                 ressize += 1+1+2;
         }
         res = PyUnicode_FromUnicode(NULL, ressize);
-        if (res==NULL)
+        if (res == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(object);
             return NULL;
+        }
         for (p = startp+start, outp = PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(res);
             p < startp+end; ++p) {
             Py_UNICODE c = *p;