diff --git a/Modules/arraymodule.c b/Modules/arraymodule.c
index b7eaa97e41670d0..147d607fb226f04 100644
--- a/Modules/arraymodule.c
+++ b/Modules/arraymodule.c
@@ -2620,11 +2620,6 @@ array_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "C|O:array", &c, &initial))
         return NULL;
 
-    if (PySys_Audit("array.__new__", "CO",
-                    c, initial ? initial : Py_None) < 0) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     if (c == 'u') {
         if (PyErr_WarnEx(PyExc_DeprecationWarning,
                          "The 'u' type code is deprecated and "
@@ -2634,6 +2629,11 @@ array_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
         }
     }
 
+    if (PySys_Audit("array.__new__", "CO",
+                    c, initial ? initial : Py_None) < 0) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     if (initial && c != 'u') {
         if (PyUnicode_Check(initial)) {
             PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError, "cannot use a str to initialize "