diff --git a/res/ari/resource_events.c b/res/ari/resource_events.c
index 4be5d02231a54980d19527576873269d9ad278c4..992c562a7142c0c68cb26b072984164374c06fe1 100644
--- a/res/ari/resource_events.c
+++ b/res/ari/resource_events.c
@@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ static void stasis_app_message_handler(
 		        msg_application);
 	} else if (!session->ws_session) {
 		/* If the websocket is NULL, the message goes to the queue */
-		AST_VECTOR_APPEND(&session->message_queue, message);
+		if (!AST_VECTOR_APPEND(&session->message_queue, message)) {
+			ast_json_ref(message);
+		}
 		ast_log(LOG_WARNING,
 				"Queued '%s' message for Stasis app '%s'; websocket is not ready\n",
 				msg_type,