diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/virgl/tests/virgl_staging_mgr_test.cpp b/src/gallium/drivers/virgl/tests/virgl_staging_mgr_test.cpp
index 057445a7718..0a5a2464832 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/virgl/tests/virgl_staging_mgr_test.cpp
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/virgl/tests/virgl_staging_mgr_test.cpp
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ fake_resource_reference(struct virgl_winsys *vws,
 {
    struct virgl_hw_res *old = *dres;
 
-   if (pipe_reference(&(*dres)->reference, &sres->reference)) {
+   if (pipe_reference(old ? &old->reference : NULL,
+                      sres ? &sres->reference : NULL)) {
       FREE(old->data);
       FREE(old);
    }