diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 5df056d827a..efb84882ec9 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #11110: Fix a potential decref of a NULL in sqlite3.
+
 - Issue #8275: Fix passing of callback arguments with ctypes under Win64.
   Patch by Stan Mihai.
 
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/module.c b/Modules/_sqlite/module.c
index 3292daee83f..cbc3b8e90be 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/module.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/module.c
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit__sqlite3(void)
         (pysqlite_statement_setup_types() < 0) ||
         (pysqlite_prepare_protocol_setup_types() < 0)
        ) {
-        Py_DECREF(module);
+        Py_XDECREF(module);
         return NULL;
     }