diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-trace.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-trace.c
index 22aff2892..e74a116b5 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-trace.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-trace.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 
 struct _CoglTraceContext
 {
+  gatomicrefcount ref_count;
   SysprofCaptureWriter *writer;
 };
 
@@ -51,23 +52,24 @@ typedef struct _CoglTraceThreadContext
   int cpu_id;
   GPid pid;
   char *group;
+  CoglTraceContext *trace_context;
 } CoglTraceThreadContext;
 
 typedef struct
 {
-  int   fd;
-  char *filename;
   char *group;
+  CoglTraceContext *trace_context;
 } TraceData;
 
+static void cogl_trace_context_unref (CoglTraceContext *trace_context);
+
 static void
 trace_data_free (gpointer user_data)
 {
   TraceData *data = user_data;
 
-  data->fd = -1;
   g_clear_pointer (&data->group, g_free);
-  g_clear_pointer (&data->filename, g_free);
+  g_clear_pointer (&data->trace_context, cogl_trace_context_unref);
   g_free (data);
 }
 
@@ -102,27 +104,42 @@ cogl_trace_context_new (int         fd,
 
   context = g_new0 (CoglTraceContext, 1);
   context->writer = writer;
+  g_atomic_ref_count_init (&context->ref_count);
   return context;
 }
 
 static void
-cogl_trace_context_free (CoglTraceContext *trace_context)
+cogl_trace_context_unref (CoglTraceContext *trace_context)
 {
-  g_clear_pointer (&trace_context->writer, sysprof_capture_writer_unref);
-  g_free (trace_context);
+  if (g_atomic_ref_count_dec (&trace_context->ref_count))
+    {
+      if (trace_context->writer)
+        sysprof_capture_writer_flush (trace_context->writer);
+      g_clear_pointer (&trace_context->writer, sysprof_capture_writer_unref);
+      g_free (trace_context);
+    }
+}
+
+static CoglTraceContext *
+cogl_trace_context_ref (CoglTraceContext *trace_context)
+{
+  g_atomic_ref_count_inc (&trace_context->ref_count);
+  return trace_context;
 }
 
 static void
-ensure_trace_context (TraceData *data)
+ensure_trace_context (int         fd,
+                      const char *filename)
 {
   g_mutex_lock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
   if (!cogl_trace_context)
-    cogl_trace_context = cogl_trace_context_new (data->fd, data->filename);
+    cogl_trace_context = cogl_trace_context_new (fd, filename);
   g_mutex_unlock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
 }
 
 static CoglTraceThreadContext *
-cogl_trace_thread_context_new (const char *group)
+cogl_trace_thread_context_new (const char       *group,
+                               CoglTraceContext *trace_context)
 {
   CoglTraceThreadContext *thread_context;
   pid_t tid;
@@ -134,6 +151,7 @@ cogl_trace_thread_context_new (const char *group)
   thread_context->pid = getpid ();
   thread_context->group =
     group ? g_strdup (group) : g_strdup_printf ("t:%d", tid);
+  thread_context->trace_context = cogl_trace_context_ref (trace_context);
 
   return thread_context;
 }
@@ -145,15 +163,14 @@ enable_tracing_idle_callback (gpointer user_data)
     g_private_get (&cogl_trace_thread_data);
   TraceData *data = user_data;
 
-  ensure_trace_context (data);
-
   if (thread_context)
     {
       g_warning ("Tracing already enabled");
       return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
     }
 
-  thread_context = cogl_trace_thread_context_new (data->group);
+  thread_context = cogl_trace_thread_context_new (data->group,
+                                                  data->trace_context);
   g_private_set (&cogl_trace_thread_data, thread_context);
 
   return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
@@ -176,7 +193,6 @@ disable_tracing_idle_callback (gpointer user_data)
 {
   CoglTraceThreadContext *thread_context =
     g_private_get (&cogl_trace_thread_data);
-  CoglTraceContext *trace_context;
 
   if (!thread_context)
     {
@@ -186,14 +202,6 @@ disable_tracing_idle_callback (gpointer user_data)
 
   g_private_replace (&cogl_trace_thread_data, NULL);
 
-  g_mutex_lock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
-  trace_context = cogl_trace_context;
-  sysprof_capture_writer_flush (trace_context->writer);
-
-  g_clear_pointer (&cogl_trace_context, cogl_trace_context_free);
-
-  g_mutex_unlock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
-
   return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
 }
 
@@ -205,10 +213,11 @@ set_tracing_enabled_on_thread (GMainContext *main_context,
 {
   TraceData *data;
 
+  ensure_trace_context (fd, filename);
+
   data = g_new0 (TraceData, 1);
-  data->fd = fd;
   data->group = group ? strdup (group) : NULL;
-  data->filename = filename ? strdup (filename) : NULL;
+  data->trace_context = cogl_trace_context_ref (cogl_trace_context);
 
   if (main_context == g_main_context_get_thread_default ())
     {
@@ -249,6 +258,10 @@ cogl_set_tracing_enabled_on_thread (GMainContext *main_context,
 void
 cogl_set_tracing_disabled_on_thread (GMainContext *main_context)
 {
+  g_mutex_lock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
+  g_clear_pointer (&cogl_trace_context, cogl_trace_context_unref);
+  g_mutex_unlock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
+
   if (g_main_context_get_thread_default () == main_context)
     {
       disable_tracing_idle_callback (NULL);
@@ -275,8 +288,8 @@ cogl_trace_end_with_description (CoglTraceHead *head,
   CoglTraceThreadContext *trace_thread_context;
 
   end_time = g_get_monotonic_time () * 1000;
-  trace_context = cogl_trace_context;
   trace_thread_context = g_private_get (&cogl_trace_thread_data);
+  trace_context = trace_thread_context->trace_context;
 
   g_mutex_lock (&cogl_trace_mutex);
   if (!sysprof_capture_writer_add_mark (trace_context->writer,