diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arrayobject.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arrayobject.c
index 2e69b25f6d2c..145daa845c6f 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arrayobject.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arrayobject.c
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ PyArray_CopyObject(PyArrayObject *dest, PyObject *src_object)
             else {
                 if (PyArray_SIZE(dest) == 1) {
                     Py_DECREF(dtype);
+                    Py_DECREF(src_object);
                     ret = PyArray_DESCR(dest)->f->setitem(src_object,
                                                 PyArray_DATA(dest), dest);
                     /* Unmask the value if necessary */