diff --git a/src/cairomodule.c b/src/cairomodule.c
index b1f2caa..8b8056c 100644
--- a/src/cairomodule.c
+++ b/src/cairomodule.c
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@ PyInit__cairo(void)
     Py_DECREF(m);
     return NULL;
   }
+  CairoError = GETSTATE(m)->ErrorObject;
 
   PyModule_AddStringConstant(m, "version", VERSION);
   PyModule_AddObject(m, "version_info",