diff --git a/vm/src/builtins/int.rs b/vm/src/builtins/int.rs
index 920fc703da..6407409acf 100644
--- a/vm/src/builtins/int.rs
+++ b/vm/src/builtins/int.rs
@@ -425,62 +425,63 @@ impl PyInt {
         self.int_op(other, |a, b| a & b, vm)
     }
 
+    fn modpow(&self, other: PyObjectRef, modulus: PyObjectRef, vm: &VirtualMachine) -> PyResult {
+        let modulus = match modulus.payload_if_subclass::<PyInt>(vm) {
+            Some(val) => val.as_bigint(),
+            None => return Ok(vm.ctx.not_implemented()),
+        };
+        if modulus.is_zero() {
+            return Err(vm.new_value_error("pow() 3rd argument cannot be 0".to_owned()));
+        }
+
+        self.general_op(
+            other,
+            |a, b| {
+                let i = if b.is_negative() {
+                    // modular multiplicative inverse
+                    // based on rust-num/num-integer#10, should hopefully be published soon
+                    fn normalize(a: BigInt, n: &BigInt) -> BigInt {
+                        let a = a % n;
+                        if a.is_negative() {
+                            a + n
+                        } else {
+                            a
+                        }
+                    }
+                    fn inverse(a: BigInt, n: &BigInt) -> Option<BigInt> {
+                        use num_integer::*;
+                        let ExtendedGcd { gcd, x: c, .. } = a.extended_gcd(n);
+                        if gcd.is_one() {
+                            Some(normalize(c, n))
+                        } else {
+                            None
+                        }
+                    }
+                    let a = inverse(a % modulus, modulus).ok_or_else(|| {
+                        vm.new_value_error(
+                            "base is not invertible for the given modulus".to_owned(),
+                        )
+                    })?;
+                    let b = -b;
+                    a.modpow(&b, modulus)
+                } else {
+                    a.modpow(b, modulus)
+                };
+                Ok(vm.ctx.new_int(i).into())
+            },
+            vm,
+        )
+    }
+
     #[pymethod(magic)]
     fn pow(
         &self,
         other: PyObjectRef,
-        mod_val: OptionalOption<PyObjectRef>,
+        r#mod: OptionalOption<PyObjectRef>,
         vm: &VirtualMachine,
     ) -> PyResult {
-        match mod_val.flatten() {
-            Some(int_ref) => {
-                let int = match int_ref.payload_if_subclass::<PyInt>(vm) {
-                    Some(val) => val,
-                    None => return Ok(vm.ctx.not_implemented()),
-                };
-
-                let modulus = int.as_bigint();
-                if modulus.is_zero() {
-                    return Err(vm.new_value_error("pow() 3rd argument cannot be 0".to_owned()));
-                }
-                self.general_op(
-                    other,
-                    |a, b| {
-                        let i = if b.is_negative() {
-                            // modular multiplicative inverse
-                            // based on rust-num/num-integer#10, should hopefully be published soon
-                            fn normalize(a: BigInt, n: &BigInt) -> BigInt {
-                                let a = a % n;
-                                if a.is_negative() {
-                                    a + n
-                                } else {
-                                    a
-                                }
-                            }
-                            fn inverse(a: BigInt, n: &BigInt) -> Option<BigInt> {
-                                use num_integer::*;
-                                let ExtendedGcd { gcd, x: c, .. } = a.extended_gcd(n);
-                                if gcd.is_one() {
-                                    Some(normalize(c, n))
-                                } else {
-                                    None
-                                }
-                            }
-                            let a = inverse(a % modulus, modulus).ok_or_else(|| {
-                                vm.new_value_error(
-                                    "base is not invertible for the given modulus".to_owned(),
-                                )
-                            })?;
-                            let b = -b;
-                            a.modpow(&b, modulus)
-                        } else {
-                            a.modpow(b, modulus)
-                        };
-                        Ok(vm.ctx.new_int(i).into())
-                    },
-                    vm,
-                )
-            }
+        match r#mod.flatten() {
+            Some(modulus) => self.modpow(other, modulus, vm),
             None => self.general_op(other, |a, b| inner_pow(a, b, vm), vm),
         }
     }