diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_drc.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_drc.c
index b10f849d37..915e9b51c4 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_drc.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_drc.c
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ sPAPRDRConnector *spapr_dr_connector_new(Object *owner, const char *type,
     prop_name = g_strdup_printf("dr-connector[%"PRIu32"]",
                                 spapr_drc_index(drc));
     object_property_add_child(owner, prop_name, OBJECT(drc), &error_abort);
+    object_unref(OBJECT(drc));
     object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(drc), true, "realized", NULL);
     g_free(prop_name);