diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 0292d1ddc9..a2b60031a2 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(const char *device_name)
     notifier_with_return_list_init(&bs->before_write_notifiers);
     qemu_co_queue_init(&bs->throttled_reqs[0]);
     qemu_co_queue_init(&bs->throttled_reqs[1]);
+    bs->refcnt = 1;
 
     return bs;
 }
@@ -1566,6 +1567,9 @@ static void bdrv_move_feature_fields(BlockDriverState *bs_dest,
     /* dirty bitmap */
     bs_dest->dirty_bitmap       = bs_src->dirty_bitmap;
 
+    /* reference count */
+    bs_dest->refcnt             = bs_src->refcnt;
+
     /* job */
     bs_dest->in_use             = bs_src->in_use;
     bs_dest->job                = bs_src->job;
@@ -4297,6 +4301,23 @@ int64_t bdrv_get_dirty_count(BlockDriverState *bs)
     }
 }
 
+/* Get a reference to bs */
+void bdrv_ref(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    bs->refcnt++;
+}
+
+/* Release a previously grabbed reference to bs.
+ * If after releasing, reference count is zero, the BlockDriverState is
+ * deleted. */
+void bdrv_unref(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    assert(bs->refcnt > 0);
+    if (--bs->refcnt == 0) {
+        bdrv_delete(bs);
+    }
+}
+
 void bdrv_set_in_use(BlockDriverState *bs, int in_use)
 {
     assert(bs->in_use != in_use);
diff --git a/include/block/block.h b/include/block/block.h
index 6207ff2cec..f24e1fffe2 100644
--- a/include/block/block.h
+++ b/include/block/block.h
@@ -355,6 +355,8 @@ int64_t bdrv_get_dirty_count(BlockDriverState *bs);
 void bdrv_enable_copy_on_read(BlockDriverState *bs);
 void bdrv_disable_copy_on_read(BlockDriverState *bs);
 
+void bdrv_ref(BlockDriverState *bs);
+void bdrv_unref(BlockDriverState *bs);
 void bdrv_set_in_use(BlockDriverState *bs, int in_use);
 int bdrv_in_use(BlockDriverState *bs);
 
diff --git a/include/block/block_int.h b/include/block/block_int.h
index c3c9c61fa5..b9212b8331 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int.h
@@ -277,6 +277,7 @@ struct BlockDriverState {
     BlockDeviceIoStatus iostatus;
     char device_name[32];
     HBitmap *dirty_bitmap;
+    int refcnt;
     int in_use; /* users other than guest access, eg. block migration */
     QTAILQ_ENTRY(BlockDriverState) list;