diff --git a/content/base/src/nsXMLHttpRequest.cpp b/content/base/src/nsXMLHttpRequest.cpp
index 239764dbb7c0..ff635a6f0222 100644
--- a/content/base/src/nsXMLHttpRequest.cpp
+++ b/content/base/src/nsXMLHttpRequest.cpp
@@ -946,7 +946,8 @@ nsXMLHttpRequest::Send(nsISupports *body)
   // Register as a load listener on the document
   nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMEventReceiver> target = do_QueryInterface(mDocument);
   if (target) {
-    nsLoadListenerProxy* proxy = new nsLoadListenerProxy(NS_GetWeakReference(NS_STATIC_CAST(nsIXMLHttpRequest*, this)));
+    nsWeakPtr requestWeak = getter_AddRefs(NS_GetWeakReference(NS_STATIC_CAST(nsIXMLHttpRequest*, this)));
+    nsLoadListenerProxy* proxy = new nsLoadListenerProxy(requestWeak);
     if (!proxy) return NS_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
 
     // This will addref the proxy