diff --git a/src/task.c b/src/task.c
index 4170be84..71c7262a 100644
--- a/src/task.c
+++ b/src/task.c
@@ -1629,6 +1629,7 @@ tf_task_t* tf_task_create()
 	task->signal.data = task;
 	uv_signal_init(&task->_loop, &task->signal);
 	uv_signal_start(&task->signal, _tf_task_sigterm, SIGTERM);
+	uv_unref((uv_handle_t*)&task->signal);
 	return task;
 }