diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 505d4c84e5..4a9dd4d9bc 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -2480,6 +2480,8 @@ static void spapr_init_cpus(sPAPRMachineState *spapr)
             object_property_set_int(core, core_id, CPU_CORE_PROP_CORE_ID,
                                     &error_fatal);
             object_property_set_bool(core, true, "realized", &error_fatal);
+
+            object_unref(core);
         }
     }
 }