diff --git a/src/modules/ims_dialog/dlg_handlers.c b/src/modules/ims_dialog/dlg_handlers.c
index 6262131de7c..ea356aac9d0 100644
--- a/src/modules/ims_dialog/dlg_handlers.c
+++ b/src/modules/ims_dialog/dlg_handlers.c
@@ -1601,6 +1601,10 @@ int dlg_new_dialog(struct sip_msg *req, struct cell *t, const int run_initial_cb
             // get_dlg has incremented the ref count by 1
             dlg_release(dlg);
         }
+    } else {
+        // get_dlg has incremented the ref count by 1
+        if (dlg)
+            dlg_release(dlg);
     }
     spiral_detected = 0;