diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/PrefetchSubscription.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/PrefetchSubscription.java
index 6778840a15..2bba05edca 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/PrefetchSubscription.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/PrefetchSubscription.java
@@ -458,11 +458,10 @@ public abstract class PrefetchSubscription extends AbstractSubscription {
                             if (node == null) {
                                 break;
                             }
-                            if(isDropped(node)) {
-                                pending.remove();
-                            }
-                            else if (canDispatch(node)) {
-                                pending.remove();
+                            
+                            pending.remove();
+                            if( !isDropped(node) && canDispatch(node)) {
+
                                 // Message may have been sitting in the pending
                                 // list a while waiting for the consumer to ak the message.
                                 if (node != QueueMessageReference.NULL_MESSAGE
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 051ea9ed77..5b7c8c8a73 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
@@ -1002,7 +1002,6 @@ public class Queue extends BaseDestination implements Task {
         reference.drop();
         acknowledge(context, sub, ack, reference);
         destinationStatistics.getMessages().decrement();
-        reference.decrementReferenceCount();
         synchronized(pagedInMessages) {
             pagedInMessages.remove(reference.getMessageId());
         }
@@ -1056,6 +1055,7 @@ public class Queue extends BaseDestination implements Task {
                         messages.reset();
                         while (messages.hasNext() && count < toPageIn) {
                             MessageReference node = messages.next();
+                            node.incrementReferenceCount();
                             messages.remove();
                             if (!broker.isExpired(node)) {
                                 QueueMessageReference ref = createMessageReference(node.getMessage());
@@ -1097,7 +1097,6 @@ public class Queue extends BaseDestination implements Task {
                     if (dispatchSelector.canSelect(s, node)) {
                         if (!s.isFull()) {
                             s.add(node);
-                            node.incrementReferenceCount();
                             target = s;
                             break;
                         } else {