diff --git a/rdf/util/public/nsRDFResource.h b/rdf/util/public/nsRDFResource.h
index 20302cc89e05..0f890a4bee85 100644
--- a/rdf/util/public/nsRDFResource.h
+++ b/rdf/util/public/nsRDFResource.h
@@ -48,9 +48,6 @@ public:
 
 protected:
     char* mURI;
-
-    static PRInt32        gRefCnt;
-    static nsIRDFService* gRDFService;
 };
 
 #endif // nsRDFResource_h__
diff --git a/rdf/util/src/nsRDFResource.cpp b/rdf/util/src/nsRDFResource.cpp
index 7f4dc6495e99..5c72323ed85a 100644
--- a/rdf/util/src/nsRDFResource.cpp
+++ b/rdf/util/src/nsRDFResource.cpp
@@ -29,38 +29,31 @@ static NS_DEFINE_CID(kRDFServiceCID, NS_RDFSERVICE_CID);
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-PRInt32        nsRDFResource::gRefCnt = 0;
-nsIRDFService* nsRDFResource::gRDFService = nsnull;
-
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 nsRDFResource::nsRDFResource(void)
     : mURI(nsnull)
 {
     NS_INIT_REFCNT();
-
-    if (gRefCnt++ == 0) {
-        nsresult rv = NS_OK;
-        rv = nsServiceManager::GetService(kRDFServiceCID,
-                                                   nsIRDFService::GetIID(),
-                                                   (nsISupports**) &gRDFService);
-
-        NS_ASSERTION(NS_SUCCEEDED(rv), "unable to get RDF service");
-    }
 }
 
 nsRDFResource::~nsRDFResource(void)
 {
-    gRDFService->UnregisterResource(this);
+    nsIRDFService* rdfService = nsnull;
+    nsresult rv = NS_OK;
+    rv = nsServiceManager::GetService(kRDFServiceCID,
+                                                   nsIRDFService::GetIID(),
+                                                   (nsISupports**) &rdfService);
+    NS_ASSERTION(NS_SUCCEEDED(rv), "unable to get RDF service");
+
+    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv) && rdfService != nsnull) {
+        rdfService->UnregisterResource(this);
+        nsServiceManager::ReleaseService(kRDFServiceCID, rdfService);
+    }
 
     // N.B. that we need to free the URI *after* we un-cache the resource,
     // due to the way that the resource manager is implemented.
     delete[] mURI;
-
-    if (--gRefCnt == 0) {
-        nsServiceManager::ReleaseService(kRDFServiceCID, gRDFService);
-        gRDFService = nsnull;
-    }
 }
 
 NS_IMPL_ADDREF(nsRDFResource)
@@ -118,8 +111,24 @@ nsRDFResource::Init(const char* aURI)
 
     PL_strcpy(mURI, aURI);
 
+    nsIRDFService* rdfService = nsnull;
+    nsresult rv = NS_OK;
+    rv = nsServiceManager::GetService(kRDFServiceCID,
+                                                   nsIRDFService::GetIID(),
+                                                   (nsISupports**) &rdfService);
+    NS_ASSERTION(NS_SUCCEEDED(rv), "unable to get RDF service");
+
+    if (!NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) {
+	return rv;
+    }
+    if (rdfService == nsnull) {
+        return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
+    }
+
     // don't replace an existing resource with the same URI automatically
-    return gRDFService->RegisterResource(this, PR_TRUE);
+    rv = rdfService->RegisterResource(this, PR_TRUE);
+    nsServiceManager::ReleaseService(kRDFServiceCID, rdfService);
+    return rv;
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP