diff --git a/Objects/dictobject.c b/Objects/dictobject.c
index f3b6b7f..4e82798 100644
--- a/Objects/dictobject.c
+++ b/Objects/dictobject.c
@@ -1585,7 +1585,10 @@
 			/* temporarily bump aval's refcount to ensure it stays
 			   alive until we're done with it */
 			Py_INCREF(aval);
+			/* ditto for key */
+			Py_INCREF(key);
 			bval = PyDict_GetItem((PyObject *)b, key);
+			Py_DECREF(key);
 			if (bval == NULL) {
 				Py_DECREF(aval);
 				return 0;