diff --git a/Modules/_tracemalloc.c b/Modules/_tracemalloc.c
index ee32ac29b7e..cbcf55f8174 100644
--- a/Modules/_tracemalloc.c
+++ b/Modules/_tracemalloc.c
@@ -1637,8 +1637,10 @@ PyInit__tracemalloc(void)
     if (m == NULL)
         return NULL;
 
-    if (tracemalloc_init() < 0)
+    if (tracemalloc_init() < 0) {
+        Py_DECREF(m);
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     return m;
 }