diff --git a/legacy/eobj/src/lib/eo.c b/legacy/eobj/src/lib/eo.c
index 2eae61ab06..12812fb3a7 100644
--- a/legacy/eobj/src/lib/eo.c
+++ b/legacy/eobj/src/lib/eo.c
@@ -1272,7 +1272,8 @@ _eo_free(Eo *obj)
 static inline void
 _eo_unref(Eo *obj)
 {
-   if (--(obj->refcount) == 0)
+   --(obj->refcount);
+   if (obj->refcount == 0)
      {
         if (obj->del)
           {
@@ -1298,6 +1299,11 @@ _eo_unref(Eo *obj)
         else
            _eo_ref(obj); /* If we manual free, we keep a phantom ref. */
      }
+   else if (obj->refcount < 0)
+     {
+        ERR("Obj:%p. Refcount (%d) < 0. Too many unrefs.", obj, obj->refcount);
+        return;
+     }
 }
 
 EAPI void