diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index 571f607..d8dab67 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -272,8 +272,7 @@
   reset:
     /* Reset the object caches */
     if (unicode->defenc) {
-        Py_DECREF(unicode->defenc);
-        unicode->defenc = NULL;
+        Py_CLEAR(unicode->defenc);
     }
     unicode->hash = -1;
 
@@ -371,8 +370,7 @@
             unicode->length = 0;
         }
         if (unicode->defenc) {
-            Py_DECREF(unicode->defenc);
-            unicode->defenc = NULL;
+            Py_CLEAR(unicode->defenc);
         }
         /* Add to free list */
         *(PyUnicodeObject **)unicode = free_list;