diff --git a/src/kiwano/base/RefObject.cpp b/src/kiwano/base/RefObject.cpp
index f4eb7971..6f463c27 100644
--- a/src/kiwano/base/RefObject.cpp
+++ b/src/kiwano/base/RefObject.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ namespace kiwano
 {
 
 RefObject::RefObject()
-    : ref_count_(0)
+    : ref_count_(1)
 {
 }