diff --git a/Modules/_io/textio.c b/Modules/_io/textio.c
index ba69e2afd27570..e9dd85f1ea1850 100644
--- a/Modules/_io/textio.c
+++ b/Modules/_io/textio.c
@@ -1313,7 +1313,6 @@ textiowrapper_change_encoding(textio *self, PyObject *encoding,
     }
     Py_DECREF(codec_info);
 
-    Py_INCREF(errors);
     Py_SETREF(self->encoding, encoding);
     Py_SETREF(self->errors, errors);