diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
index 7b0c9931e..4a10db136 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@
 #define GL_FRAMEBUFFER_COMPLETE 0x8CD5
 #endif
 
+static void _cogl_atlas_free (CoglAtlas *atlas);
+
+COGL_OBJECT_INTERNAL_DEFINE (Atlas, atlas);
+
 /* If we want to do mulitple blits from a texture (such as when
    reorganizing the atlas) then it's quicker to download all of the
    data once and upload multiple times from that. This struct is used
@@ -209,12 +213,14 @@ _cogl_atlas_new (CoglPixelFormat texture_format,
   atlas->texture_format = texture_format;
   _cogl_callback_list_init (&atlas->reorganize_callbacks);
 
-  return atlas;
+  return _cogl_atlas_object_new (atlas);
 }
 
-void
+static void
 _cogl_atlas_free (CoglAtlas *atlas)
 {
+  COGL_NOTE (ATLAS, "%p: Atlas destroyed", atlas);
+
   if (atlas->texture)
     cogl_handle_unref (atlas->texture);
   if (atlas->map)
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.h b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
index 42d383e1f..dbe7eb9f7 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 #include "cogl-rectangle-map.h"
 #include "cogl-callback-list.h"
+#include "cogl-object-private.h"
 
 typedef void
 (* CoglAtlasUpdatePositionCallback) (void *user_data,
@@ -40,8 +41,12 @@ typedef enum
 
 typedef struct _CoglAtlas CoglAtlas;
 
+#define COGL_ATLAS(object) ((CoglAtlas *) object)
+
 struct _CoglAtlas
 {
+  CoglObject _parent;
+
   CoglRectangleMap *map;
 
   CoglHandle texture;
@@ -68,9 +73,6 @@ void
 _cogl_atlas_remove (CoglAtlas *atlas,
                     const CoglRectangleMapEntry *rectangle);
 
-void
-_cogl_atlas_free (CoglAtlas *atlas);
-
 CoglHandle
 _cogl_atlas_copy_rectangle (CoglAtlas        *atlas,
                             unsigned int      x,
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-context.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-context.c
index 12cbc48a2..f94f8b713 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-context.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-context.c
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ _cogl_destroy_context (void)
     _cogl_clip_stack_unref (_context->current_clip_stack);
 
   if (_context->atlas)
-    _cogl_atlas_free (_context->atlas);
+    cogl_object_unref (_context->atlas);
 
   _cogl_bitmask_destroy (&_context->arrays_enabled);
   _cogl_bitmask_destroy (&_context->temp_bitmask);
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/pango/cogl-pango-glyph-cache.c b/clutter/cogl/pango/cogl-pango-glyph-cache.c
index 0bd81a1a9..1851b237c 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/pango/cogl-pango-glyph-cache.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/pango/cogl-pango-glyph-cache.c
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ cogl_pango_glyph_cache_new (void)
 void
 cogl_pango_glyph_cache_clear (CoglPangoGlyphCache *cache)
 {
-  g_slist_foreach (cache->atlases, (GFunc) _cogl_atlas_free, NULL);
+  g_slist_foreach (cache->atlases, (GFunc) cogl_object_unref, NULL);
   g_slist_free (cache->atlases);
   cache->atlases = NULL;
   cache->has_dirty_glyphs = FALSE;
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ cogl_pango_glyph_cache_lookup (CoglPangoGlyphCache *cache,
                                           ink_rect.width + 1,
                                           ink_rect.height + 1, value))
             {
-              _cogl_atlas_free (atlas);
+              cogl_object_unref (atlas);
               cogl_pango_glyph_cache_value_free (value);
               return NULL;
             }