diff --git a/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c b/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
index 58accaf4a7a97cd3ab6f2d3c886a3e9609c240d7..f3cc7696e43bba51b4bd6462228c89132b46216a 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
@@ -931,7 +931,9 @@ virNetTLSContextPtr virNetTLSContextNewClient(const char *cacert,
 
 void virNetTLSContextRef(virNetTLSContextPtr ctxt)
 {
+    virMutexLock(&ctxt->lock);
     ctxt->refs++;
+    virMutexUnlock(&ctxt->lock);
 }