diff --git a/qemu/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h b/qemu/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
index d0bbc7c4..b100d4b3 100644
--- a/qemu/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
+++ b/qemu/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ static inline void qobject_incref(QObject *obj)
  */
 static inline void qobject_decref(QObject *obj)
 {
+    assert(!obj || obj->refcnt);
     if (obj && --obj->refcnt == 0) {
         assert(obj->type != NULL);
         assert(obj->type->destroy != NULL);