diff --git a/Modules/bz2module.c b/Modules/bz2module.c
index 1fb6665..9289a02 100644
--- a/Modules/bz2module.c
+++ b/Modules/bz2module.c
@@ -1388,7 +1388,7 @@
 			break;
 	}
 	Util_DropReadAhead(self);
-	Py_DECREF(self->file);
+	Py_XDECREF(self->file);
 	self->ob_type->tp_free((PyObject *)self);
 }