diff --git a/block/blk-core.c b/block/blk-core.c
index 5d1fc8e17dd1..edd009213f5b 100644
--- a/block/blk-core.c
+++ b/block/blk-core.c
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ void blk_rq_init(struct request_queue *q, struct request *rq)
 	rq->internal_tag = -1;
 	rq->start_time_ns = ktime_get_ns();
 	rq->part = NULL;
+	refcount_set(&rq->ref, 1);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(blk_rq_init);