diff --git a/Objects/tupleobject.c b/Objects/tupleobject.c
index bfb7ec7..ccfd281 100644
--- a/Objects/tupleobject.c
+++ b/Objects/tupleobject.c
@@ -546,10 +546,8 @@
     Py_ssize_t i;
     Py_ssize_t vlen, wlen;
 
-    if (!PyTuple_Check(v) || !PyTuple_Check(w)) {
-        Py_INCREF(Py_NotImplemented);
-        return Py_NotImplemented;
-    }
+    if (!PyTuple_Check(v) || !PyTuple_Check(w))
+        Py_RETURN_NOTIMPLEMENTED;
 
     vt = (PyTupleObject *)v;
     wt = (PyTupleObject *)w;