diff --git a/Modules/_sre.c b/Modules/_sre.c
index 954547f..ccbd7b2 100644
--- a/Modules/_sre.c
+++ b/Modules/_sre.c
@@ -1996,6 +1996,7 @@
         }
         /* FIXME: <fl> this can fail, right? */
         PyDict_SetItem(result, key, item);
+	Py_DECREF(item);
     }
 
     Py_DECREF(keys);