diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/Queue.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/Queue.java
index 3ef7fdef13..6f0eefd490 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/Queue.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/Queue.java
@@ -432,6 +432,7 @@ public class Queue implements Destination {
             for (Iterator iter = messages.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
                 try {
                     MessageReference r = (MessageReference) iter.next();
+                    r.incrementReferenceCount();
                     try {
                         Message m = r.getMessage();
                         if (m != null) {