diff --git a/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c b/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
index 444ca064c1..9b530ab5b0 100644
--- a/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
+++ b/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
@@ -608,6 +608,7 @@ static void virtio_gpu_set_scanout(VirtIOGPU *g,
             cmd->error = VIRTIO_GPU_RESP_ERR_UNSPEC;
             return;
         }
+        pixman_image_unref(rect);
         dpy_gfx_replace_surface(g->scanout[ss.scanout_id].con, scanout->ds);
     }