diff --git a/Objects/abstract.c b/Objects/abstract.c
index 1b6c2b42796..9fb56b6b179 100644
--- a/Objects/abstract.c
+++ b/Objects/abstract.c
@@ -716,6 +716,7 @@ PyObject_Format(PyObject *obj, PyObject *format_spec)
 
     /* And call it. */
     result = PyObject_CallFunctionObjArgs(meth, format_spec, NULL);
+    Py_DECREF(meth);
 
     if (result && !PyUnicode_Check(result)) {
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,