diff --git a/Objects/stringlib/find.h b/Objects/stringlib/find.h
--- a/Objects/stringlib/find.h
+++ b/Objects/stringlib/find.h
@@ -191,22 +191,23 @@ STRINGLIB(parse_args_finds_byte)(const c
                                     start, end))
         return 0;
 
-    ival = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(tmp_subobj, PyExc_ValueError);
-    if (ival == -1 && PyErr_Occurred()) {
-        PyErr_Clear();
+    if (!PyLong_Check(tmp_subobj)) {
         *subobj = tmp_subobj;
-    }
-    else {
-        /* The first argument was an integer */
-        if(ival < 0 || ival > 255) {
-            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "byte must be in range(0, 256)");
-            return 0;
-        }
-
-        *subobj = NULL;
-        *byte = (char)ival;
+        return 1;
     }
 
+    ival = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(tmp_subobj, PyExc_ValueError);
+    if (ival == -1 && PyErr_Occurred())
+        return 0;
+
+    /* The first argument was an integer */
+    if(ival < 0 || ival > 255) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "byte must be in range(0, 256)");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    *subobj = NULL;
+    *byte = (char)ival;
     return 1;
 }