Robert Steckroth robertsteckroth@gmail.com writes:

In the below example, is there an extra reference to the align object when the Py_RETURN_NONE IS hit?

There is. Since PyObject_SetAttrString doesn't steal the reference count to its argument, the Py_XINCREF is unnecessary. Also, I'd use Py_INCREF there, since you already aren't entering the if-clause if align is NULL.

Also, why do I have to Py_INCREF(s_obj)?

You don't. PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords doesn't increase reference count of its arguments, and neither should the code calling it -- it is the responsibility of the caller to provide arguments that it either owns or are globally available (Py_None, type objects).

If I do not, I end up with crashes. Is this a bug?

It's most likely a bug somewhere else in your code or an extension you're using that gets hidden by the extra incref. This can sometimes happen in Python/C; the correct solution is to remove the extraneous incref and carefully inspect the rest of your code for incorrect reference count handling.