diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index c338ef13e2..d5764ad8ee 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -4797,8 +4797,7 @@ IntrusivePtr<Val> CastExpr::Eval(Frame* f) const
 	if ( ! v )
 		return 0;
 
-	IntrusivePtr<Val> nv{AdoptRef{}, cast_value_to_type(v.get(), Type())};
-
+	auto nv = cast_value_to_type(v.get(), Type());
 	if ( nv )
 		return nv;
 
diff --git a/src/Stmt.cc b/src/Stmt.cc
index 495a3ed432..0b5a78511f 100644
--- a/src/Stmt.cc
+++ b/src/Stmt.cc
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@ Val* SwitchStmt::DoExec(Frame* f, Val* v, stmt_flow_type& flow) const
 		if ( matching_id )
 			{
 			auto cv = cast_value_to_type(v, matching_id->Type());
-			f->SetElement(matching_id, cv);
+			f->SetElement(matching_id, cv.release());
 			}
 
 		flow = FLOW_NEXT;
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index 86ee5ff38e..41dfc3b6b8 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -3206,7 +3206,7 @@ void delete_vals(val_list* vals)
 		}
 	}
 
-Val* cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t)
+IntrusivePtr<Val> cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t)
 	{
 	// Note: when changing this function, adapt all three of
 	// cast_value_to_type()/can_cast_value_to_type()/can_cast_value_to_type().
@@ -3217,7 +3217,7 @@ Val* cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t)
 	// Always allow casting to same type. This also covers casting 'any'
 	// to the actual type.
 	if ( same_type(v->Type(), t) )
-		return v->Ref();
+		return {NewRef{}, v};
 
 	if ( same_type(v->Type(), bro_broker::DataVal::ScriptDataType()) )
 		{
@@ -3226,7 +3226,7 @@ Val* cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t)
 		if ( ! dv )
 			return nullptr;
 
-		return static_cast<bro_broker::DataVal *>(dv)->castTo(t).release();
+		return static_cast<bro_broker::DataVal *>(dv)->castTo(t);
 		}
 
 	return nullptr;
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index 5f32b65935..9e4289a546 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -1037,10 +1037,9 @@ extern void delete_vals(val_list* vals);
 inline bool is_vector(Val* v)	{ return  v->Type()->Tag() == TYPE_VECTOR; }
 
 // Returns v casted to type T if the type supports that. Returns null if not.
-// The returned value will be ref'ed.
 //
 // Note: This implements the script-level cast operator.
-extern Val* cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t);
+extern IntrusivePtr<Val> cast_value_to_type(Val* v, BroType* t);
 
 // Returns true if v can be casted to type T. If so, check_and_cast() will
 // succeed as well.