diff --git a/pyo3-ffi/src/refcount.rs b/pyo3-ffi/src/refcount.rs
index 03549f787b4..745eaa69a97 100644
--- a/pyo3-ffi/src/refcount.rs
+++ b/pyo3-ffi/src/refcount.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::pyport::Py_ssize_t;
 use crate::PyObject;
-#[cfg(py_sys_config = "Py_REF_DEBUG")]
+#[cfg(all(not(Py_LIMITED_API), py_sys_config = "Py_REF_DEBUG"))]
 use std::ffi::c_char;
 #[cfg(Py_3_12)]
 use std::ffi::c_int;