diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index db1516d..c4d93fc 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -4185,10 +4185,13 @@
     void *data;
     int kind;
 
-    if (!PyUnicode_Check(unicode) || PyUnicode_READY(unicode) == -1) {
+    if (!PyUnicode_Check(unicode)) {
         PyErr_BadArgument();
         return (Py_UCS4)-1;
     }
+    if (PyUnicode_READY(unicode) == -1) {
+        return (Py_UCS4)-1;
+    }
     if (index < 0 || index >= PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(unicode)) {
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_IndexError, "string index out of range");
         return (Py_UCS4)-1;
@@ -11668,10 +11671,13 @@
     enum PyUnicode_Kind kind;
     Py_UCS4 ch;
 
-    if (!PyUnicode_Check(self) || PyUnicode_READY(self) == -1) {
+    if (!PyUnicode_Check(self)) {
         PyErr_BadArgument();
         return NULL;
     }
+    if (PyUnicode_READY(self) == -1) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
     if (index < 0 || index >= PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(self)) {
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_IndexError, "string index out of range");
         return NULL;