diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index f5175350e12aa6..4817973262f484 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -2242,6 +2242,7 @@ statresult_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
         return NULL;
     }
     _posixstate *state = get_posix_state(mod);
+    Py_DECREF(mod);
     if (state == NULL) {
         return NULL;
     }