diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-01-28-06-23-59.gh-issue-129345.uOjkML.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-01-28-06-23-59.gh-issue-129345.uOjkML.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..68e1103db45652
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-01-28-06-23-59.gh-issue-129345.uOjkML.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix null pointer dereference in :func:`syslog.openlog` when an audit hook raises an exception.
diff --git a/Modules/syslogmodule.c b/Modules/syslogmodule.c
index 722364e0751d9f..c925a42dc05c53 100644
--- a/Modules/syslogmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/syslogmodule.c
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ syslog_openlog_impl(PyObject *module, PyObject *ident, long logopt,
         }
     }
     if (PySys_Audit("syslog.openlog", "Oll", ident ? ident : Py_None, logopt, facility) < 0) {
-        Py_DECREF(ident);
+        Py_XDECREF(ident);
         return NULL;
     }