diff --git a/Objects/structseq.c b/Objects/structseq.c
index 28cbb1901f4..c3b9a72989a 100644
--- a/Objects/structseq.c
+++ b/Objects/structseq.c
@@ -383,6 +383,8 @@ PyTypeObject*
 PyStructSequence_NewType(PyStructSequence_Desc *desc)
 {
     PyTypeObject *result = (PyTypeObject*)PyType_GenericAlloc(&PyType_Type, 0);
-    PyStructSequence_InitType(result, desc);
+    if (result != NULL) {
+        PyStructSequence_InitType(result, desc);
+    }
     return result;
 }