diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/Inventor/ReaderWriterIV.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/Inventor/ReaderWriterIV.cpp
index f80520702..0a19756af 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/Inventor/ReaderWriterIV.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/Inventor/ReaderWriterIV.cpp
@@ -56,9 +56,12 @@ ReaderWriterIV::readNode(const std::string& file,
 
     if (rootIVNode)
     {
+        rootIVNode->ref();
         // Convert the inventor scenegraph to an osg scenegraph and return it
         ConvertFromInventor convertIV;
-        return convertIV.convert(rootIVNode);
+        ReadResult result = convertIV.convert(rootIVNode);
+        rootIVNode->unref();
+        return result;
     }
 
     return ReadResult::FILE_NOT_HANDLED;