diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 14f17b31c50..0911309c6b2 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ What's New in Python 3.4.0 Alpha 1?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #18180: Fix ref leak in _PyImport_GetDynLoadWindows().
+
 - Issue #18038: SyntaxError raised during compilation sources with illegal
   encoding now always contains an encoding name.
 
diff --git a/Python/dynload_win.c b/Python/dynload_win.c
index edb6038e3bf..ffcf0ee1d73 100644
--- a/Python/dynload_win.c
+++ b/Python/dynload_win.c
@@ -262,8 +262,9 @@ dl_funcptr _PyImport_GetDynLoadWindows(const char *shortname,
                         theLength));
             }
             if (message != NULL) {
-                PyErr_SetImportError(message, PyUnicode_FromString(shortname),
-                                     pathname);
+                PyObject *shortname_obj = PyUnicode_FromString(shortname);
+                PyErr_SetImportError(message, shortname_obj, pathname);
+                Py_XDECREF(shortname_obj);
                 Py_DECREF(message);
             }
             return NULL;