diff --git a/include/proto/stream.h b/include/proto/stream.h
index d4f82136b..1fea1ab1c 100644
--- a/include/proto/stream.h
+++ b/include/proto/stream.h
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ static inline enum obj_type *strm_orig(const struct stream *strm)
 
 /* Remove the refcount from the stream to the tracked counters, and clear the
  * pointer to ensure this is only performed once. The caller is responsible for
- * ensuring that the pointer is valid first.
+ * ensuring that the pointer is valid first. We must be extremely careful not
+ * to touch the entries we inherited from the session.
  */
 static inline void stream_store_counters(struct stream *s)
 {
@@ -98,6 +99,10 @@ static inline void stream_store_counters(struct stream *s)
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_SESS_STKCTR; i++) {
 		if (!stkctr_entry(&s->stkctr[i]))
 			continue;
+
+		if (stkctr_entry(&s->sess->stkctr[i]))
+			continue;
+
 		ptr = stktable_data_ptr(s->stkctr[i].table, stkctr_entry(&s->stkctr[i]), STKTABLE_DT_CONN_CUR);
 		if (ptr)
 			stktable_data_cast(ptr, conn_cur)--;
@@ -109,7 +114,8 @@ static inline void stream_store_counters(struct stream *s)
 
 /* Remove the refcount from the stream counters tracked at the content level if
  * any, and clear the pointer to ensure this is only performed once. The caller
- * is responsible for ensuring that the pointer is valid first.
+ * is responsible for ensuring that the pointer is valid first. We must be
+ * extremely careful not to touch the entries we inherited from the session.
  */
 static inline void stream_stop_content_counters(struct stream *s)
 {
@@ -120,6 +126,9 @@ static inline void stream_stop_content_counters(struct stream *s)
 		if (!stkctr_entry(&s->stkctr[i]))
 			continue;
 
+		if (stkctr_entry(&s->sess->stkctr[i]))
+			continue;
+
 		if (!(stkctr_flags(&s->stkctr[i]) & STKCTR_TRACK_CONTENT))
 			continue;
 
diff --git a/src/stream.c b/src/stream.c
index dadb80f70..6c1f7ab84 100644
--- a/src/stream.c
+++ b/src/stream.c
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ struct stream *stream_new(struct session *sess, struct task *t, enum obj_type *o
 	struct stream *s;
 	struct connection *conn = objt_conn(origin);
 	struct appctx *appctx   = objt_appctx(origin);
-	int i;
 
 	if (unlikely((s = pool_alloc2(pool2_stream)) == NULL))
 		return s;
@@ -108,13 +107,13 @@ struct stream *stream_new(struct session *sess, struct task *t, enum obj_type *o
 	s->current_rule_list = NULL;
 	s->current_rule = NULL;
 
-	/* Copy SC counters for the stream. Each SC counter will be used by
-	 * the stream, so we need to increment the refcount.
+	/* Copy SC counters for the stream. We don't touch refcounts because
+	 * any reference we have is inherited from the session. Since the stream
+	 * doesn't exist without the session, the session's existence guarantees
+	 * we don't lose the entry. During the store operation, the stream won't
+	 * touch these ones.
 	 */
 	memcpy(s->stkctr, sess->stkctr, sizeof(s->stkctr));
-	for (i = 0; i < MAX_SESS_STKCTR; i++)
-		if (stkctr_entry(&s->stkctr[i]))
-			stkctr_entry(&s->stkctr[i])->ref_cnt++;
 
 	s->sess = sess;
 	s->si[0].flags = SI_FL_NONE;