diff --git a/Objects/dictobject.c b/Objects/dictobject.c
index d669f8421c4792..80a44a87be4c4f 100644
--- a/Objects/dictobject.c
+++ b/Objects/dictobject.c
@@ -5670,8 +5670,11 @@ dictiter_iternextitem(PyObject *self)
         }
         else {
             result = PyTuple_New(2);
-            if (result == NULL)
+            if (result == NULL) {
+                Py_DECREF(key);
+                Py_DECREF(value);
                 return NULL;
+            }
             PyTuple_SET_ITEM(result, 0, key);
             PyTuple_SET_ITEM(result, 1, value);
         }