diff --git a/Objects/typeobject.c b/Objects/typeobject.c
index 5e951de85ef..42a0a58b761 100644
--- a/Objects/typeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/typeobject.c
@@ -3693,7 +3693,7 @@ _PyObject_GetItemsIter(PyObject *obj, PyObject **listitems,
     }
     else {
         *listitems = PyObject_GetIter(obj);
-        if (listitems == NULL)
+        if (*listitems == NULL)
             return -1;
     }