diff --git a/src/st/st-private.c b/src/st/st-private.c
index 559336c42..d40eceb86 100644
--- a/src/st/st-private.c
+++ b/src/st/st-private.c
@@ -442,6 +442,7 @@ _st_create_shadow_pipeline_from_actor (StShadow     *shadow_spec,
       if (!cogl_framebuffer_allocate (fb, &catch_error))
         {
           cogl_error_free (catch_error);
+          cogl_object_unref (offscreen);
           cogl_object_unref (buffer);
           return NULL;
         }