diff --git a/modules/affile/affile-dest.c b/modules/affile/affile-dest.c
index 0969f3ed3d..18592048c7 100644
--- a/modules/affile/affile-dest.c
+++ b/modules/affile/affile-dest.c
@@ -316,6 +316,14 @@ affile_dw_set_owner(AFFileDestWriter *self, AFFileDestDriver *owner)
                            self->filename);
 }
 
+static void 
+affile_dw_unset_owner(AFFileDestWriter *self)
+{
+  if (self->owner)
+    log_pipe_unref(&self->owner->super.super.super);
+  self->owner = NULL;
+}
+
 static void
 affile_dw_free(LogPipe *s)
 {
@@ -496,7 +504,7 @@ affile_dd_reuse_writer(gpointer key, gpointer value, gpointer user_data)
   affile_dw_set_owner(writer, self);
   if (!log_pipe_init(&writer->super))
     {
-      affile_dw_set_owner(writer, NULL);
+      affile_dw_unset_owner(writer);
       log_pipe_unref(&writer->super);
       g_hash_table_remove(self->writer_hash, key);
     }