diff --git a/Externals/LibXML/python/libxml.c b/Externals/LibXML/python/libxml.c
index 747e44cf8..01d4a3f56 100644
--- a/Externals/LibXML/python/libxml.c
+++ b/Externals/LibXML/python/libxml.c
@@ -1172,7 +1172,6 @@ pythonAttributeDecl(void *user_data,
         for (node = tree; node != NULL; node = node->next) {
             newName = PyString_FromString((char *) node->name);
             PyList_SetItem(nameList, count, newName);
-	    Py_DECREF(newName);
             count++;
         }
         result = PyObject_CallMethod(handler, (char *) "attributeDecl",