diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_resource.c b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_resource.c
index 24dc051513d..34c7ed0e500 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_resource.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_resource.c
@@ -493,8 +493,7 @@ zink_transfer_unmap(struct pipe_context *pctx,
          zink_transfer_copy_bufimage(ctx, res, staging_res, trans, true);
       }
 
-      zink_resource_destroy(pctx->screen, trans->staging_res);
-      trans->staging_res = NULL;
+      pipe_resource_reference(&trans->staging_res, NULL);
    } else
       vkUnmapMemory(screen->dev, res->mem);