diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 5b0f81841e7..79d7f0e0b4f 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ Library
   makeunicodedata.py and regenerated the Unicode database (This fixes
   u'\u1d79'.lower() == '\x00').
 
+Extension Modules
+-----------------
+
+- Issue #4873: Fix resource leaks in error cases of pwd and grp.
+
 Build
 -----
 
diff --git a/Modules/grpmodule.c b/Modules/grpmodule.c
index e5b9f4708c6..ffb451e1744 100644
--- a/Modules/grpmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/grpmodule.c
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ mkgrent(struct group *p)
 
     if (PyErr_Occurred()) {
         Py_DECREF(v);
-        Py_DECREF(w);
         return NULL;
     }
 
@@ -139,6 +138,7 @@ grp_getgrall(PyObject *self, PyObject *ignore)
         if (v == NULL || PyList_Append(d, v) != 0) {
             Py_XDECREF(v);
             Py_DECREF(d);
+            endgrent();
             return NULL;
         }
         Py_DECREF(v);
diff --git a/Modules/pwdmodule.c b/Modules/pwdmodule.c
index 9e01f487576..a271c5a82eb 100644
--- a/Modules/pwdmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/pwdmodule.c
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ pwd_getpwall(PyObject *self)
 		if (v == NULL || PyList_Append(d, v) != 0) {
 			Py_XDECREF(v);
 			Py_DECREF(d);
+			endpwent();
 			return NULL;
 		}
 		Py_DECREF(v);