diff --git a/src/gui/image/qimage.cpp b/src/gui/image/qimage.cpp
index 50cb31832a7..1ed94f70e25 100644
--- a/src/gui/image/qimage.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/image/qimage.cpp
@@ -2332,6 +2332,7 @@ bool QImage::reinterpretAsFormat(Format format)
         // In case detach() ran out of memory
         if (!d) {
             d = oldD;
+            d->ref.ref();
             return false;
         }
     }