diff --git a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-bus.c b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-bus.c
index eaaa275775f2bf826dd8aba41ded4e10316c66be..42760340f476bc61069033dcf53ae4b920a3cd10 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-bus.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-bus.c
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ static void s390_virtio_scsi_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VirtIOSCSIS390 *dev = VIRTIO_SCSI_S390(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VIRTIO_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }
 
@@ -280,6 +281,7 @@ static void s390_vhost_scsi_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VHostSCSIS390 *dev = VHOST_SCSI_S390(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VHOST_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/hw/s390x/virtio-ccw.c b/hw/s390x/virtio-ccw.c
index 458aabc68bd441d91e38c70e16d6152c3323e328..a466674ba7bd74776173fa2ac2439444ef4f9e47 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/virtio-ccw.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/virtio-ccw.c
@@ -938,6 +938,7 @@ static void virtio_ccw_scsi_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VirtIOSCSICcw *dev = VIRTIO_SCSI_CCW(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VIRTIO_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }
 
@@ -960,6 +961,7 @@ static void vhost_ccw_scsi_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VHostSCSICcw *dev = VHOST_SCSI_CCW(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VHOST_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
index ef489838386400cd9607e106dc8e1795d586297e..09f209325e589758c90d3842d027c4dcb55a0df3 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
@@ -1186,6 +1186,7 @@ static void virtio_scsi_pci_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VirtIOSCSIPCI *dev = VIRTIO_SCSI_PCI(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VIRTIO_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }
 
@@ -1242,6 +1243,7 @@ static void vhost_scsi_pci_instance_init(Object *obj)
     VHostSCSIPCI *dev = VHOST_SCSI_PCI(obj);
     object_initialize(&dev->vdev, sizeof(dev->vdev), TYPE_VHOST_SCSI);
     object_property_add_child(obj, "virtio-backend", OBJECT(&dev->vdev), NULL);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(&dev->vdev));
     qdev_alias_all_properties(DEVICE(&dev->vdev), obj);
 }