diff --git a/src/backends/meta-color-store.c b/src/backends/meta-color-store.c
index 35c2ef28c..d24598844 100644
--- a/src/backends/meta-color-store.c
+++ b/src/backends/meta-color-store.c
@@ -99,13 +99,16 @@ on_directory_profile_ready (MetaColorProfile *color_profile,
 
   g_object_ref (color_profile);
 
-  if (!g_hash_table_steal (color_store->pending_local_profiles,
-                           meta_color_profile_get_file_path (color_profile)))
-    g_warn_if_reached ();
+  if (!g_hash_table_remove (color_store->pending_local_profiles,
+                            meta_color_profile_get_file_path (color_profile)))
+    {
+      g_object_unref (color_profile);
+      g_warn_if_reached ();
+    }
 
   g_hash_table_insert (color_store->profiles,
                        g_strdup (meta_color_profile_get_id (color_profile)),
-                       color_profile);
+                       g_object_ref (color_profile));
 
   meta_topic (META_DEBUG_COLOR, "Created colord profile '%s' from '%s'",
               meta_color_profile_get_id (color_profile),