diff --git a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
index 7f640bce2515..9a14fa2b790b 100644
--- a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
@@ -1423,11 +1423,15 @@ test_widechar(PyObject *self)
     if (wide == NULL)
         return NULL;
     PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(wide)[0] = invalid[0];
-    if (_PyUnicode_Ready(wide) < 0)
+    if (_PyUnicode_Ready(wide) < 0) {
+        Py_DECREF(wide);
         PyErr_Clear();
-    else
+    }
+    else {
+        Py_DECREF(wide);
         return raiseTestError("test_widechar",
                               "PyUnicode_Ready() didn't fail");
+    }
 #endif
 
     Py_RETURN_NONE;