2 files changed, 3 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/hv.c b/hv.c
index 3d4d3af183..24d9150e28 100644
--- a/hv.c
+++ b/hv.c
@@ -1985,6 +1985,7 @@ Perl_hv_kill_backrefs(pTHX_ HV *hv) {
     if (av) {
 	HvAUX(hv)->xhv_backreferences = 0;
 	Perl_sv_kill_backrefs(aTHX_ (SV*) hv, av);
+	SvREFCNT_dec(av);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/sv.c b/sv.c
index 04d6e432fa..4792ad1f04 100644
--- a/sv.c
+++ b/sv.c
@@ -10784,10 +10784,11 @@ Perl_sv_dup(pTHX_ const SV *const sstr, CLONE_PARAMS *const param)
 			daux->xhv_eiter = saux->xhv_eiter
 			    ? he_dup(saux->xhv_eiter,
 					(bool)!!HvSHAREKEYS(sstr), param) : 0;
+			/* backref array needs refcnt=2; see sv_add_backref */
 			daux->xhv_backreferences =
 			    saux->xhv_backreferences
 				? (AV*) SvREFCNT_inc(
-					sv_dup((SV*)saux->xhv_backreferences, param))
+					sv_dup_inc((SV*)saux->xhv_backreferences, param))
 				: 0;
 
                         daux->xhv_mro_meta = saux->xhv_mro_meta