diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b8bcc211bf2..0bfbd3861ab 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #13015: Fix a possible reference leak in defaultdict.__repr__.
+  Patch by Suman Saha.
+
 - Issue #13979: A bug in ctypes.util.find_library that caused
   the wrong library name to be returned has been fixed.
 
diff --git a/Modules/_collectionsmodule.c b/Modules/_collectionsmodule.c
index ea5f7795dc9..ccc3043cae0 100644
--- a/Modules/_collectionsmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_collectionsmodule.c
@@ -1475,8 +1475,10 @@ defdict_repr(defdictobject *dd)
     {
         int status = Py_ReprEnter(dd->default_factory);
         if (status != 0) {
-            if (status < 0)
+            if (status < 0) {
+                Py_DECREF(baserepr);
                 return NULL;
+            }
             defrepr = PyString_FromString("...");
         }
         else