diff --git a/widget/src/gtk/nsWindow.cpp b/widget/src/gtk/nsWindow.cpp
index de9d1ca3d04..7dd8616459f 100644
--- a/widget/src/gtk/nsWindow.cpp
+++ b/widget/src/gtk/nsWindow.cpp
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ nsWindow::DestroyNativeChildren(void)
         childWindow->Destroy();
         // only one of these should be on at a time...
         //        printf("destroying child ref=%i\n", childWindow->Release());
-        NS_RELEASE(childWindow);
       }
     } while(NS_SUCCEEDED(children->Next()));
   }