diff --git a/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_channels.c b/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_channels.c
index 05913a784..5e9366bf5 100644
--- a/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_channels.c
+++ b/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_channels.c
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ METHOD(xpc_channels_t, add, void,
 		.logger = xpc_logger_create(conn),
 	);
 
+	xpc_retain(entry->conn);
 	xpc_connection_set_event_handler(entry->conn, ^(xpc_object_t event)
 	{
 		if (event == XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INVALID ||
diff --git a/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_dispatch.c b/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_dispatch.c
index df9126c8b..dd7ce1531 100644
--- a/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_dispatch.c
+++ b/src/frontends/osx/charon-xpc/xpc_dispatch.c
@@ -281,6 +281,7 @@ static void cleanup_connection(private_xpc_dispatch_t *this)
  */
 static void set_handler(private_xpc_dispatch_t *this)
 {
+	xpc_retain(this->service);
 	xpc_connection_set_event_handler(this->service, ^(xpc_object_t conn)
 	{
 		xpc_connection_set_event_handler(conn, ^(xpc_object_t event)