diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index 5cf15b6..94a18d3 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -1911,8 +1911,12 @@
     assert(obj);
     if (PyInstance_Check(obj)) {
         dirfunc = PyObject_GetAttrString(obj, "__dir__");
-        if (dirfunc == NULL && !PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_AttributeError))
-            return NULL;
+        if (dirfunc == NULL) {
+            if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_AttributeError))
+                PyErr_Clear();
+            else
+                return NULL;
+        }
     }
     else {
         dirfunc = _PyObject_LookupSpecial(obj, "__dir__", &dir_str);