diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_surface.c b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_surface.c
index 5f5bfb341a5..1a778c7a927 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_surface.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_surface.c
@@ -364,9 +364,12 @@ zink_create_surface(struct pipe_context *pctx,
 
    csurf->needs_mutable = needs_mutable;
    if (needs_mutable) {
-      pipe_resource_reference(&csurf->base.texture, pres);
+      struct pipe_resource *ref = NULL;
+      pipe_resource_reference(&ref, pres);
       init_pipe_surface_info(pctx, &csurf->base, templ, pres);
    }
+   /* this may or may not be set previously depending whether templ->texture is set */
+   csurf->base.texture = pres;
 
    if (templ->nr_samples && !screen->info.have_EXT_multisampled_render_to_single_sampled) {
       /* transient fb attachment: not cached */