diff --git a/hw/core/qdev.c b/hw/core/qdev.c
index ee4a083e6404d1104a49f8ee0e71cc23d844667f..57834423b93bce25e7e4d76eebe70e46c6c22aa3 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev.c
@@ -354,12 +354,14 @@ void qdev_init_nofail(DeviceState *dev)
 
     assert(!dev->realized);
 
+    object_ref(OBJECT(dev));
     object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(dev), true, "realized", &err);
     if (err) {
         error_reportf_err(err, "Initialization of device %s failed: ",
                           object_get_typename(OBJECT(dev)));
         exit(1);
     }
+    object_unref(OBJECT(dev));
 }
 
 void qdev_machine_creation_done(void)