diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index d035ff10bd6..39e24303604 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ What's New in Python 3.1.3?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Restore GIL in nis_cat in case of error.
+
 - Issue #5319: Print an error if flushing stdout fails at interpreter
   shutdown.
 
diff --git a/Modules/nismodule.c b/Modules/nismodule.c
index 16c7b813b07..d75af5d589c 100644
--- a/Modules/nismodule.c
+++ b/Modules/nismodule.c
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ nis_foreach (int instatus, char *inkey, int inkeylen, char *inval,
             PyErr_Clear();
             Py_XDECREF(key);
             Py_XDECREF(val);
+            indata->state = PyEval_SaveThread();
             return 1;
         }
         err = PyDict_SetItem(indata->dict, key, val);