diff --git a/Modules/_io/bufferedio.c b/Modules/_io/bufferedio.c
index 67b7cc4501a4..334734beccba 100644
--- a/Modules/_io/bufferedio.c
+++ b/Modules/_io/bufferedio.c
@@ -1499,8 +1499,10 @@ _bufferedreader_read_all(buffered *self)
     }
 
     chunks = PyList_New(0);
-    if (chunks == NULL)
+    if (chunks == NULL) {
+        Py_XDECREF(data);
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     while (1) {
         if (data) {