diff --git a/Lib/test/test_re.py b/Lib/test/test_re.py
index 2107b3ade22..d2f7f6e52eb 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_re.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_re.py
@@ -727,6 +727,7 @@ class ReTests(unittest.TestCase):
         long_overflow = 2**128
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, re.finditer, "a", {})
         self.assertRaises(OverflowError, _sre.compile, "abc", 0, [long_overflow])
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, _sre.compile, {}, 0, [])
 
 def run_re_tests():
     from test.re_tests import benchmarks, tests, SUCCEED, FAIL, SYNTAX_ERROR
diff --git a/Modules/_sre.c b/Modules/_sre.c
index 7b3ee5fe3a8..8f3b8cea8a5 100644
--- a/Modules/_sre.c
+++ b/Modules/_sre.c
@@ -2702,7 +2702,7 @@ _compile(PyObject* self_, PyObject* args)
 	else {
 		Py_ssize_t p_length;
 		if (!getstring(pattern, &p_length, &self->charsize)) {
-			PyObject_DEL(self);
+			Py_DECREF(self);
 			return NULL;
 		}
 	}