diff --git a/src/nrnpython/nrnpy_p2h.cpp b/src/nrnpython/nrnpy_p2h.cpp
index 78c9b681bb..aecc00a8b7 100644
--- a/src/nrnpython/nrnpy_p2h.cpp
+++ b/src/nrnpython/nrnpy_p2h.cpp
@@ -844,10 +844,10 @@ static Object* py_alltoall_type(int size, int type) {
 #if NRNMPI
     setpickle();
     int root;
-    PyObject* pdest = NULL;
+    nb::object pdest;
 
     if (type == 2) {
-        pdest = py_allgather(psrc);
+        pdest = nb::steal(py_allgather(psrc));
         Py_DECREF(psrc);
     } else if (type != 1 && type != 5) {
         root = size;
@@ -855,9 +855,9 @@ static Object* py_alltoall_type(int size, int type) {
             hoc_execerror("root rank must be >= 0 and < nhost", 0);
         }
         if (type == 3) {
-            pdest = py_gather(psrc, root);
+            pdest = nb::steal(py_gather(psrc, root));
         } else if (type == 4) {
-            pdest = py_broadcast(psrc, root);
+            pdest = nb::steal(py_broadcast(psrc, root));
         }
         Py_DECREF(psrc);
     } else {
@@ -912,9 +912,9 @@ static Object* py_alltoall_type(int size, int type) {
             sdispl = mk_displ(scnt.data());
             rdispl = mk_displ(rcnt);
             if (size < 0) {
-                pdest = PyTuple_New(2);
-                PyTuple_SetItem(pdest, 0, Py_BuildValue("l", (long) sdispl[np]));
-                PyTuple_SetItem(pdest, 1, Py_BuildValue("l", (long) rdispl[np]));
+                pdest = nb::steal(PyTuple_New(2));
+                PyTuple_SetItem(pdest.ptr(), 0, Py_BuildValue("l", (long) sdispl[np]));
+                PyTuple_SetItem(pdest.ptr(), 1, Py_BuildValue("l", (long) rdispl[np]));
                 delete[] sdispl;
                 delete[] rcnt;
                 delete[] rdispl;
@@ -923,7 +923,7 @@ static Object* py_alltoall_type(int size, int type) {
                 nrnmpi_char_alltoallv(s.data(), scnt.data(), sdispl, r, rcnt, rdispl);
                 delete[] sdispl;
 
-                pdest = char2pylist(r, np, rcnt, rdispl);
+                pdest = nb::steal(char2pylist(r, np, rcnt, rdispl));
 
                 delete[] r;
                 delete[] rcnt;
@@ -946,19 +946,16 @@ static Object* py_alltoall_type(int size, int type) {
                 delete[] sdispl;
 
             if (rcnt[0]) {
-                nb::object po = unpickle(r);
-                pdest = po.release().ptr();
+                pdest = unpickle(r);
             } else {
-                pdest = Py_None;
-                Py_INCREF(pdest);
+                pdest = nb::none();
             }
 
             delete[] rcnt;
             assert(rdispl == NULL);
         }
     }
-    Object* ho = nrnpy_po2ho(pdest);
-    Py_XDECREF(pdest);
+    Object* ho = nrnpy_po2ho(pdest.ptr());
     if (ho) {
         --ho->refcount;
     }