diff --git a/Objects/dictobject.c b/Objects/dictobject.c
index e608b91679b..c5477ab15f8 100644
--- a/Objects/dictobject.c
+++ b/Objects/dictobject.c
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ _PyDict_ClearFreeList(PyInterpreterState *interp)
         PyObject_GC_Del(op);
     }
     while (state->keys_numfree) {
-        PyObject_Free(state->keys_free_list[--state->keys_numfree]);
+        PyMem_Free(state->keys_free_list[--state->keys_numfree]);
     }
 #endif
 }
@@ -332,6 +332,22 @@ dictkeys_decref(PyInterpreterState *interp, PyDictKeysObject *dk)
     _Py_DecRefTotal(_PyInterpreterState_GET());
 #endif
     if (--dk->dk_refcnt == 0) {
+        if (DK_IS_UNICODE(dk)) {
+            PyDictUnicodeEntry *entries = DK_UNICODE_ENTRIES(dk);
+            Py_ssize_t i, n;
+            for (i = 0, n = dk->dk_nentries; i < n; i++) {
+                Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_key);
+                Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_value);
+            }
+        }
+        else {
+            PyDictKeyEntry *entries = DK_ENTRIES(dk);
+            Py_ssize_t i, n;
+            for (i = 0, n = dk->dk_nentries; i < n; i++) {
+                Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_key);
+                Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_value);
+            }
+        }
         free_keys_object(interp, dk);
     }
 }
@@ -640,9 +656,9 @@ new_keys_object(PyInterpreterState *interp, uint8_t log2_size, bool unicode)
     else
 #endif
     {
-        dk = PyObject_Malloc(sizeof(PyDictKeysObject)
-                             + ((size_t)1 << log2_bytes)
-                             + entry_size * usable);
+        dk = PyMem_Malloc(sizeof(PyDictKeysObject)
+                          + ((size_t)1 << log2_bytes)
+                          + entry_size * usable);
         if (dk == NULL) {
             PyErr_NoMemory();
             return NULL;
@@ -666,23 +682,6 @@ new_keys_object(PyInterpreterState *interp, uint8_t log2_size, bool unicode)
 static void
 free_keys_object(PyInterpreterState *interp, PyDictKeysObject *keys)
 {
-    assert(keys != Py_EMPTY_KEYS);
-    if (DK_IS_UNICODE(keys)) {
-        PyDictUnicodeEntry *entries = DK_UNICODE_ENTRIES(keys);
-        Py_ssize_t i, n;
-        for (i = 0, n = keys->dk_nentries; i < n; i++) {
-            Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_key);
-            Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_value);
-        }
-    }
-    else {
-        PyDictKeyEntry *entries = DK_ENTRIES(keys);
-        Py_ssize_t i, n;
-        for (i = 0, n = keys->dk_nentries; i < n; i++) {
-            Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_key);
-            Py_XDECREF(entries[i].me_value);
-        }
-    }
 #if PyDict_MAXFREELIST > 0
     struct _Py_dict_state *state = get_dict_state(interp);
 #ifdef Py_DEBUG
@@ -697,7 +696,7 @@ free_keys_object(PyInterpreterState *interp, PyDictKeysObject *keys)
         return;
     }
 #endif
-    PyObject_Free(keys);
+    PyMem_Free(keys);
 }
 
 static inline PyDictValues*
@@ -798,7 +797,7 @@ clone_combined_dict_keys(PyDictObject *orig)
     assert(orig->ma_keys->dk_refcnt == 1);
 
     size_t keys_size = _PyDict_KeysSize(orig->ma_keys);
-    PyDictKeysObject *keys = PyObject_Malloc(keys_size);
+    PyDictKeysObject *keys = PyMem_Malloc(keys_size);
     if (keys == NULL) {
         PyErr_NoMemory();
         return NULL;
@@ -1544,32 +1543,13 @@ dictresize(PyInterpreterState *interp, PyDictObject *mp,
             }
         }
 
-        // We can not use free_keys_object here because key's reference
-        // are moved already.
         if (oldkeys != Py_EMPTY_KEYS) {
 #ifdef Py_REF_DEBUG
             _Py_DecRefTotal(_PyInterpreterState_GET());
 #endif
             assert(oldkeys->dk_kind != DICT_KEYS_SPLIT);
             assert(oldkeys->dk_refcnt == 1);
-#if PyDict_MAXFREELIST > 0
-            struct _Py_dict_state *state = get_dict_state(interp);
-#ifdef Py_DEBUG
-            // dictresize() must not be called after _PyDict_Fini()
-            assert(state->keys_numfree != -1);
-#endif
-            if (DK_LOG_SIZE(oldkeys) == PyDict_LOG_MINSIZE &&
-                    DK_IS_UNICODE(oldkeys) &&
-                    state->keys_numfree < PyDict_MAXFREELIST)
-            {
-                state->keys_free_list[state->keys_numfree++] = oldkeys;
-                OBJECT_STAT_INC(to_freelist);
-            }
-            else
-#endif
-            {
-                PyObject_Free(oldkeys);
-            }
+            free_keys_object(interp, oldkeys);
         }
     }