diff --git a/rocksdb/_rocksdb.pyx b/rocksdb/_rocksdb.pyx
index 42fa884968f54afdc51227a67a98a317893ad8ab..0f37b79da941206b3612ad3ff4fd44081958ab71 100644
--- a/rocksdb/_rocksdb.pyx
+++ b/rocksdb/_rocksdb.pyx
@@ -1340,6 +1340,7 @@ cdef class ReversedIterator(object):
             raise StopIteration()
 
         cdef object ret = self.it.get_ob()
-        self.it.ptr.Prev()
+        with nogil:
+            self.it.ptr.Prev()
         check_status(self.it.ptr.status())
         return ret