diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index 6170c1e495..5df2aa1413 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -2459,6 +2459,7 @@ Val* AssignExpr::InitVal(const BroType* t, Val* aggr) const
 		if ( ! v )
 			return 0;
 
+		::Ref(v);
 		aggr_r->Assign(field, v);
 		return v;
 		}