diff --git a/psycopg/cursor_int.c b/psycopg/cursor_int.c
index a4acba1f..653071c1 100644
--- a/psycopg/cursor_int.c
+++ b/psycopg/cursor_int.c
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ curs_get_last_result(cursorObject *self) {
         IFCLEARPGRES(self->pgres);
         self->pgres = pgres;
     }
+    Py_XDECREF(self->conn->async_cursor);
     self->conn->async_cursor = NULL;
     pthread_mutex_unlock(&(self->conn->lock));
     Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS;
diff --git a/psycopg/pqpath.c b/psycopg/pqpath.c
index 14710a65..b987164c 100644
--- a/psycopg/pqpath.c
+++ b/psycopg/pqpath.c
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ pq_clear_async(connectionObject *conn)
         Dprintf("pq_clear_async: clearing PGresult at %p", pgres);
         CLEARPGRES(pgres);
     }
+    Py_XDECREF(conn->async_cursor);
     conn->async_cursor = NULL;
 }
 
@@ -746,6 +747,7 @@ pq_execute(cursorObject *curs, const char *query, int async)
     }
     else {
         curs->conn->async_status = async_status;
+        Py_INCREF(curs);
         curs->conn->async_cursor = (PyObject*)curs;
     }