diff --git a/tree_sitter/binding.c b/tree_sitter/binding.c
index 94f8ff69..dff81b70 100644
--- a/tree_sitter/binding.c
+++ b/tree_sitter/binding.c
@@ -1879,6 +1879,12 @@ static bool satisfies_text_predicates(Query *query, TSQueryMatch match, Tree *tr
             node2 = node_for_capture_index(state, capture2_value_id, match, tree);
             if (node1 == NULL || node2 == NULL) {
                 is_satisfied = true;
+                if (node1 != NULL) {
+                    Py_XDECREF(node1);
+                }
+                if (node2 != NULL) {
+                    Py_XDECREF(node2);
+                }
             } else {
                 node1_text = node_get_text(node1, NULL);
                 node2_text = node_get_text(node2, NULL);