diff -r 5b90da280515 Modules/_curses_panel.c
--- a/Modules/_curses_panel.c	Sat Jun 15 23:24:11 2013 -0400
+++ b/Modules/_curses_panel.c	Sun Jun 16 18:00:37 2013 +0300
@@ -323,12 +323,13 @@
 PyCursesPanel_set_panel_userptr(PyCursesPanelObject *self, PyObject *obj)
 {
     PyObject *oldobj;
+    int rc;
     PyCursesInitialised;
+    Py_INCREF(obj);
     oldobj = (PyObject *) panel_userptr(self->pan);
+    rc = set_panel_userptr(self->pan, (void*)obj);
     Py_XDECREF(oldobj);
-    Py_INCREF(obj);
-    return PyCursesCheckERR(set_panel_userptr(self->pan, (void*)obj),
-                            "set_panel_userptr");
+    return PyCursesCheckERR(rc, "set_panel_userptr");
 }
 
 static PyObject *