diff --git a/tensorflow/core/kernels/data/experimental/snapshot_dataset_op.cc b/tensorflow/core/kernels/data/experimental/snapshot_dataset_op.cc
index 01044957857106..2cb5c69584faf3 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/kernels/data/experimental/snapshot_dataset_op.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/kernels/data/experimental/snapshot_dataset_op.cc
@@ -191,8 +191,6 @@ class SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader
 
   explicit Reader(const Params& params, int64 start_index);
 
-  ~Reader() override;
-
   Status Initialize(IteratorContext* ctx) override;
 
   Status GetNextInternal(IteratorContext* ctx, std::vector<Tensor>* out_tensors,
@@ -212,7 +210,7 @@ class SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader
 
   std::unique_ptr<IteratorBase> input_impl_ TF_GUARDED_BY(mu_);
 
-  DatasetBase* input_ TF_GUARDED_BY(mu_);
+  DatasetBase* input_ TF_GUARDED_BY(mu_) = nullptr;
 
   std::unique_ptr<InstantiatedCapturedFunction> instantiated_reader_func_
       TF_GUARDED_BY(mu_);
@@ -451,7 +449,11 @@ Status SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::GetNextInternal(
     bool* end_of_sequence) {
   mutex_lock l(mu_);
   if (iterator_ == nullptr) {
-    TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(InitializeIterator(ctx, nullptr));
+    Status s = InitializeIterator(ctx, /*reader=*/nullptr);
+    if (!s.ok()) {
+      iterator_.reset();
+      return s;
+    }
   }
   index_++;
   return iterator_->GetNext(ctx, out_tensors, end_of_sequence);
@@ -530,8 +532,6 @@ SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader::Reader(const Params& params,
                                                        int64 start_index)
     : DatasetIterator<Dataset>(params), start_index_(start_index) {}
 
-SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader::~Reader() { input_->Unref(); }
-
 Status SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader::Initialize(
     IteratorContext* ctx) {
   mutex_lock l(mu_);
@@ -578,11 +578,6 @@ Status SnapshotDatasetV2Op::Dataset::Iterator::Reader::Initialize(
         "reader_func returns more than one argument.");
   }
   TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(GetDatasetFromVariantTensor(reader_output[0], &input_));
-
-  // We need to take a reference here as we will use the input_ and
-  // its iterator.
-  input_->Ref();
-
   return input_->MakeIterator(ctx, this, prefix(), &input_impl_);
 }
 
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/data/experimental/kernel_tests/snapshot_test.py b/tensorflow/python/data/experimental/kernel_tests/snapshot_test.py
index b1fa780f6b3c80..c1e3b1e9fa0b83 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/data/experimental/kernel_tests/snapshot_test.py
+++ b/tensorflow/python/data/experimental/kernel_tests/snapshot_test.py
@@ -356,6 +356,19 @@ def make_dataset():
         num_runs_per_fingerprint=1,
         num_snapshot_shards_per_run=multiprocessing.cpu_count())
 
+  @combinations.generate(test_base.default_test_combinations())
+  def testRepeatAndPrefetch(self):
+    """This test reproduces github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues/48903."""
+    dataset = dataset_ops.Dataset.from_tensor_slices(np.random.rand(16, 32))
+    dataset = dataset.apply(snapshot.snapshot(self._snapshot_dir))
+    dataset = dataset.shuffle(buffer_size=16)
+    dataset = dataset.batch(16)
+    dataset = dataset.repeat()
+    dataset = dataset.prefetch(1)
+    next_element = self.getNext(dataset)
+    for _ in range(30):
+      self.evaluate(next_element())
+
 
 class LegacySnapshotDatasetTest(
     reader_dataset_ops_test_base.TFRecordDatasetTestBase,