diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
index 2a2c18f..dbfbd44 100644
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@
     self->ssl = NULL;
     self->Socket = NULL;
     self->ctx = sslctx;
+    Py_INCREF(sslctx);
     self->shutdown_seen_zero = 0;
     self->handshake_done = 0;
     self->owner = NULL;
@@ -613,8 +614,6 @@
         self->server_hostname = hostname;
     }
 
-    Py_INCREF(sslctx);
-
     /* Make sure the SSL error state is initialized */
     (void) ERR_get_state();
     ERR_clear_error();