diff -r 688c6b16228e Modules/posixmodule.c
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c	Tue Mar 29 13:46:53 2016 +0200
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c	Wed Mar 30 12:29:09 2016 +0300
@@ -816,9 +816,10 @@ path_cleanup(path_t *path) {
 }
 
 static int
-path_converter(PyObject *o, void *p) {
+path_converter(PyObject *o, void *p)
+{
     path_t *path = (path_t *)p;
-    PyObject *unicode, *bytes;
+    PyObject *bytes;
     Py_ssize_t length;
     char *narrow;
 
@@ -851,24 +852,20 @@ path_converter(PyObject *o, void *p) {
         return 1;
     }
 
-    unicode = PyUnicode_FromObject(o);
-    if (unicode) {
+    if (PyUnicode_Check(o)) {
 #ifdef MS_WINDOWS
         wchar_t *wide;
 
-        wide = PyUnicode_AsUnicodeAndSize(unicode, &length);
+        wide = PyUnicode_AsUnicodeAndSize(o, &length);
         if (!wide) {
-            Py_DECREF(unicode);
             return 0;
         }
         if (length > 32767) {
             FORMAT_EXCEPTION(PyExc_ValueError, "%s too long for Windows");
-            Py_DECREF(unicode);
             return 0;
         }
         if (wcslen(wide) != length) {
-            FORMAT_EXCEPTION(PyExc_ValueError, "embedded null character");
-            Py_DECREF(unicode);
+            FORMAT_EXCEPTION(PyExc_ValueError, "embedded null character in %s");
             return 0;
         }
 
@@ -877,52 +874,43 @@ path_converter(PyObject *o, void *p) {
         path->length = length;
         path->object = o;
         path->fd = -1;
-        path->cleanup = unicode;
         return Py_CLEANUP_SUPPORTED;
 #else
-        int converted = PyUnicode_FSConverter(unicode, &bytes);
-        Py_DECREF(unicode);
-        if (!converted)
-            bytes = NULL;
-#endif
+        int converted = PyUnicode_FSConverter(o, &bytes);
+        if (!converted) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+#endif
+    }
+    else if (PyObject_CheckBuffer(o)) {
+#  ifdef MS_WINDOWS
+        if (win32_warn_bytes_api()) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+#  endif
+        bytes = PyBytes_FromObject(o);
+        if (!bytes) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (path->allow_fd) {
+        int fd;
+        int result = _fd_converter(o, &fd,
+                "string, bytes or integer");
+        if (result) {
+            path->wide = NULL;
+            path->narrow = NULL;
+            path->length = 0;
+            path->object = o;
+            path->fd = fd;
+            return result;
+        }
     }
     else {
-        PyErr_Clear();
-        if (PyObject_CheckBuffer(o))
-            bytes = PyBytes_FromObject(o);
-        else
-            bytes = NULL;
-        if (!bytes) {
-            PyErr_Clear();
-            if (path->allow_fd) {
-                int fd;
-                int result = _fd_converter(o, &fd,
-                        "string, bytes or integer");
-                if (result) {
-                    path->wide = NULL;
-                    path->narrow = NULL;
-                    path->length = 0;
-                    path->object = o;
-                    path->fd = fd;
-                    return result;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
-    if (!bytes) {
-        if (!PyErr_Occurred())
-            FORMAT_EXCEPTION(PyExc_TypeError, "illegal type for %s parameter");
+        FORMAT_EXCEPTION(PyExc_TypeError, "illegal type for %s parameter");
         return 0;
     }
 
-#ifdef MS_WINDOWS
-    if (win32_warn_bytes_api()) {
-        Py_DECREF(bytes);
-        return 0;
-    }
-#endif
-
     length = PyBytes_GET_SIZE(bytes);
 #ifdef MS_WINDOWS
     if (length > MAX_PATH-1) {