diff --git a/src/connection.c b/src/connection.c
index b96bb651..f5c4f04b 100644
--- a/src/connection.c
+++ b/src/connection.c
@@ -1341,6 +1341,7 @@ static void _handle_authed_client(client_t *client, void *userdata, auth_result
 static void _handle_authentication_global(client_t *client, void *userdata, auth_result result)
 {
     ice_config_t *config;
+    auth_stack_t *authstack;
 
     auth_stack_release(client->authstack);
     client->authstack = NULL;
@@ -1353,8 +1354,11 @@ static void _handle_authentication_global(client_t *client, void *userdata, auth
 
     ICECAST_LOG_DEBUG("Trying global authenticators for client %p.", client);
     config = config_get_config();
-    auth_stack_add_client(config->authstack, client, _handle_authed_client, userdata);
+    authstack = config->authstack;
+    auth_stack_addref(authstack);
     config_release_config();
+    auth_stack_add_client(authstack, client, _handle_authed_client, userdata);
+    auth_stack_release(authstack);
 }
 
 static inline mount_proxy * __find_non_admin_mount(ice_config_t *config, const char *name, mount_type type)
diff --git a/src/stats.c b/src/stats.c
index cebb865c..9a9c7295 100644
--- a/src/stats.c
+++ b/src/stats.c
@@ -843,6 +843,10 @@ static xmlNodePtr _dump_stats_to_doc (xmlNodePtr root, const char *show_mount, i
     xmlNodePtr ret = NULL;
     ice_config_t *config;
 
+    config = config_get_config();
+    __add_authstack(config->authstack, root);
+    config_release_config();
+
     thread_mutex_lock(&_stats_mutex);
     /* general stats first */
     avlnode = avl_get_first(_stats.global_tree);
@@ -855,9 +859,6 @@ static xmlNodePtr _dump_stats_to_doc (xmlNodePtr root, const char *show_mount, i
     }
     /* now per mount stats */
     avlnode = avl_get_first(_stats.source_tree);
-    config = config_get_config();
-    __add_authstack(config->authstack, root);
-    config_release_config();
 
     while (avlnode) {
         stats_source_t *source = (stats_source_t *)avlnode->key;