diff --git a/src/conf/virnetworkobj.c b/src/conf/virnetworkobj.c
index 41a6c338093d540563019f8af11595a3683afe5f..d1636bcc1bc8bd66219fea8d1bd08bf118603a54 100644
--- a/src/conf/virnetworkobj.c
+++ b/src/conf/virnetworkobj.c
@@ -577,10 +577,10 @@ virNetworkObjAssignDefLocked(virNetworkObjListPtr nets,
         virUUIDFormat(def->uuid, uuidstr);
         if (virHashAddEntry(nets->objs, uuidstr, obj) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
+        virObjectRef(obj);
 
         obj->def = def;
         obj->persistent = !(flags & VIR_NETWORK_OBJ_LIST_ADD_LIVE);
-        virObjectRef(obj);
     }
 
     ret = obj;