diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index c5b887cec1..1e7e8907e4 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -3213,11 +3213,6 @@ static BlockDriverState *bdrv_append_temp_snapshot(BlockDriverState *bs,
         goto out;
     }
 
-    /* bdrv_append() consumes a strong reference to bs_snapshot
-     * (i.e. it will call bdrv_unref() on it) even on error, so in
-     * order to be able to return one, we have to increase
-     * bs_snapshot's refcount here */
-    bdrv_ref(bs_snapshot);
     ret = bdrv_append(bs_snapshot, bs, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
         bs_snapshot = NULL;
@@ -4679,36 +4674,22 @@ int bdrv_replace_node(BlockDriverState *from, BlockDriverState *to,
  * bs_new must not be attached to a BlockBackend.
  *
  * This function does not create any image files.
- *
- * bdrv_append() takes ownership of a bs_new reference and unrefs it because
- * that's what the callers commonly need. bs_new will be referenced by the old
- * parents of bs_top after bdrv_append() returns. If the caller needs to keep a
- * reference of its own, it must call bdrv_ref().
  */
 int bdrv_append(BlockDriverState *bs_new, BlockDriverState *bs_top,
                 Error **errp)
 {
     int ret = bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, bs_top, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        goto out;
+        return ret;
     }
 
     ret = bdrv_replace_node(bs_top, bs_new, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
         bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, NULL, &error_abort);
-        goto out;
+        return ret;
     }
 
-    ret = 0;
-
-out:
-    /*
-     * bs_new is now referenced by its new parents, we don't need the
-     * additional reference any more.
-     */
-    bdrv_unref(bs_new);
-
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 static void bdrv_delete(BlockDriverState *bs)
diff --git a/block/backup-top.c b/block/backup-top.c
index 589e8b651d..62d09f213e 100644
--- a/block/backup-top.c
+++ b/block/backup-top.c
@@ -234,7 +234,6 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_backup_top_append(BlockDriverState *source,
 
     bdrv_drained_begin(source);
 
-    bdrv_ref(top);
     ret = bdrv_append(top, source, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
         error_prepend(errp, "Cannot append backup-top filter: ");
diff --git a/block/commit.c b/block/commit.c
index dd9ba87349..b89bb20b75 100644
--- a/block/commit.c
+++ b/block/commit.c
@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@ void commit_start(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
     commit_top_bs->total_sectors = top->total_sectors;
 
     ret = bdrv_append(commit_top_bs, top, errp);
+    bdrv_unref(commit_top_bs); /* referenced by new parents or failed */
     if (ret < 0) {
         commit_top_bs = NULL;
         goto fail;
diff --git a/block/mirror.c b/block/mirror.c
index 5a71bd8bbc..840b8e8c15 100644
--- a/block/mirror.c
+++ b/block/mirror.c
@@ -1630,9 +1630,6 @@ static BlockJob *mirror_start_job(
 
     bs_opaque->is_commit = target_is_backing;
 
-    /* bdrv_append takes ownership of the mirror_top_bs reference, need to keep
-     * it alive until block_job_create() succeeds even if bs has no parent. */
-    bdrv_ref(mirror_top_bs);
     bdrv_drained_begin(bs);
     ret = bdrv_append(mirror_top_bs, bs, errp);
     bdrv_drained_end(bs);
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index a57590aae4..834c2304a1 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -1576,10 +1576,6 @@ static void external_snapshot_prepare(BlkActionState *common,
         goto out;
     }
 
-    /* This removes our old bs and adds the new bs. This is an operation that
-     * can fail, so we need to do it in .prepare; undoing it for abort is
-     * always possible. */
-    bdrv_ref(state->new_bs);
     ret = bdrv_append(state->new_bs, state->old_bs, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
         goto out;
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-drain.c b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-drain.c
index 8a29e33e00..892f7f47d8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-drain.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-drain.c
@@ -1478,7 +1478,6 @@ static void test_append_to_drained(void)
     g_assert_cmpint(base_s->drain_count, ==, 1);
     g_assert_cmpint(base->in_flight, ==, 0);
 
-    /* Takes ownership of overlay, so we don't have to unref it later */
     bdrv_append(overlay, base, &error_abort);
     g_assert_cmpint(base->in_flight, ==, 0);
     g_assert_cmpint(overlay->in_flight, ==, 0);
@@ -1495,6 +1494,7 @@ static void test_append_to_drained(void)
     g_assert_cmpint(overlay->quiesce_counter, ==, 0);
     g_assert_cmpint(overlay_s->drain_count, ==, 0);
 
+    bdrv_unref(overlay);
     bdrv_unref(base);
     blk_unref(blk);
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
index 5b6934e68b..a6064b1863 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ static void test_update_perm_tree(void)
     ret = bdrv_append(filter, bs, NULL);
     g_assert_cmpint(ret, <, 0);
 
+    bdrv_unref(filter);
     blk_unref(root);
 }
 
@@ -202,6 +203,7 @@ static void test_should_update_child(void)
     bdrv_append(filter, bs, &error_abort);
     g_assert(target->backing->bs == bs);
 
+    bdrv_unref(filter);
     bdrv_unref(bs);
     blk_unref(root);
 }
@@ -380,6 +382,7 @@ static void test_append_greedy_filter(void)
                       &error_abort);
 
     bdrv_append(fl, base, &error_abort);
+    bdrv_unref(fl);
     bdrv_unref(top);
 }