diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-03-25-23-37-26.bpo-36430.sd9xxQ.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-03-25-23-37-26.bpo-36430.sd9xxQ.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a65ee096efc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2019-03-25-23-37-26.bpo-36430.sd9xxQ.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a possible reference leak in :func:`itertools.count`.
diff --git a/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c b/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
index 536f7fa6253..103029d251e 100644
--- a/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
@@ -4089,6 +4089,7 @@ itertools_count_impl(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *long_cnt,
     lz = (countobject *)type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
     if (lz == NULL) {
         Py_XDECREF(long_cnt);
+        Py_DECREF(long_step);
         return NULL;
     }
     lz->cnt = cnt;