diff --git a/atom/src/signalconnector.cpp b/atom/src/signalconnector.cpp
index 47fb52c8..d4d18931 100644
--- a/atom/src/signalconnector.cpp
+++ b/atom/src/signalconnector.cpp
@@ -35,10 +35,7 @@ SignalConnector_traverse( SignalConnector* self, visitproc visit, void* arg )
 {
     Py_VISIT( self->member );
     Py_VISIT( self->atom );
-#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03090000
-    // This was not needed before Python 3.9 (Python issue 35810 and 40217)
     Py_VISIT(Py_TYPE(self));
-#endif
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -51,7 +48,13 @@ SignalConnector_dealloc( SignalConnector* self )
     if( numfree < FREELIST_MAX )
         freelist[ numfree++ ] = self;
     else
-        Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free( pyobject_cast( self ) );
+    {
+        PyTypeObject* tp = Py_TYPE( self );
+        tp->tp_free( pyobject_cast( self ) );
+        Py_DECREF( tp );
+
+    }
+
 }
 
 
@@ -182,6 +185,7 @@ SignalConnector::New( atom::Member* member, atom::CAtom* atom )
     {
         pyconnector = pyobject_cast( freelist[ --numfree ] );
         _Py_NewReference( pyconnector );
+        PyObject_GC_Track( pyconnector );
     }
     else
     {