diff --git a/src/st/st-theme.c b/src/st/st-theme.c
index 4134b758b..6e2fd2c74 100644
--- a/src/st/st-theme.c
+++ b/src/st/st-theme.c
@@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ st_theme_load_stylesheet (StTheme    *theme,
     return FALSE;
 
   insert_stylesheet (theme, path, stylesheet);
+  cr_stylesheet_ref (stylesheet);
   theme->custom_stylesheets = g_slist_prepend (theme->custom_stylesheets, stylesheet);
 
   return TRUE;