diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
index 9e794be5c109ba..70ed35cca19e80 100644
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -3343,9 +3343,7 @@ expat_start_handler(void *op, const XML_Char *tag_in,
                 Py_DECREF(tag);
                 return;
             }
-            ok = PyDict_SetItem(attrib, key, value);
-            Py_DECREF(value);
-            Py_DECREF(key);
+            ok = _PyDict_SetItem_Take2((PyDictObject *)attrib, key, value);
             if (ok < 0) {
                 Py_DECREF(attrib);
                 Py_DECREF(tag);