diff --git a/Python/bltinmodule.c b/Python/bltinmodule.c
index a07b78c8d98..b4f0e24aaf7 100644
--- a/Python/bltinmodule.c
+++ b/Python/bltinmodule.c
@@ -523,6 +523,8 @@ builtin_compile(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
             mod_ty mod;
 
             arena = PyArena_New();
+            if (arena == NULL)
+                return NULL;
             mod = PyAST_obj2mod(cmd, arena, mode);
             if (mod == NULL) {
                 PyArena_Free(arena);