diff --git a/Python/compile.c b/Python/compile.c
index d463fcde204a05..caac1277804a76 100644
--- a/Python/compile.c
+++ b/Python/compile.c
@@ -901,7 +901,7 @@ _PyCompile_LookupArg(compiler *c, PyCodeObject *co, PyObject *name)
             c->u->u_metadata.u_name,
             co->co_name,
             freevars);
-        Py_DECREF(freevars);
+        Py_XDECREF(freevars);
         return ERROR;
     }
     return arg;