diff --git a/squirrel/sqstate.cpp b/squirrel/sqstate.cpp
index 91826101..5f1c97f3 100644
--- a/squirrel/sqstate.cpp
+++ b/squirrel/sqstate.cpp
@@ -436,8 +436,8 @@ SQUnsignedInteger RefTable::GetRefCount(SQObject &obj)
 {
      SQHash mainpos;
      RefNode *prev;
-     RefNode *ref = Get(obj,mainpos,&prev,true);
-     return ref->refs;
+     RefNode *ref = Get(obj,mainpos,&prev,false);
+     return ref ? ref->refs : 0;
 }