diff --git a/src/mesa/pipe/softpipe/sp_tex_sample.c b/src/mesa/pipe/softpipe/sp_tex_sample.c
index 0c990294f28..b89adf84805 100644
--- a/src/mesa/pipe/softpipe/sp_tex_sample.c
+++ b/src/mesa/pipe/softpipe/sp_tex_sample.c
@@ -594,6 +594,8 @@ get_texel(struct tgsi_sampler *sampler,
                    ty * TEX_CACHE_TILE_SIZE,
                    TEX_CACHE_TILE_SIZE, TEX_CACHE_TILE_SIZE,
                    (float *) sampler->cache[entry].data);
+
+      pipe_surface_reference(&ps, NULL);
    }
    else {
       /*