diff --git a/Modules/_datetimemodule.c b/Modules/_datetimemodule.c
index 87a88be6090..16c7bffda8f 100644
--- a/Modules/_datetimemodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_datetimemodule.c
@@ -2811,7 +2811,7 @@ date_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kw)
     int day;
 
     /* Check for invocation from pickle with __getstate__ state */
-    if (PyTuple_GET_SIZE(args) >= 1) {
+    if (PyTuple_GET_SIZE(args) == 1) {
         PyObject *state = PyTuple_GET_ITEM(args, 0);
         if (PyBytes_Check(state)) {
             if (PyBytes_GET_SIZE(state) == _PyDateTime_DATE_DATASIZE &&