diff --git a/src/libloomw/data/pyobj.cpp b/src/libloomw/data/pyobj.cpp
index 6b1ea9abadc949fd76730fc96775782681b56dc5..40ee666e26b5d10cd89e400cc4d39c5891a2e651 100644
--- a/src/libloomw/data/pyobj.cpp
+++ b/src/libloomw/data/pyobj.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ loom::PyObj::~PyObj()
     PyGILState_STATE gstate;
     gstate = PyGILState_Ensure();
 
-    assert(obj->ob_refcnt == 1);
+    assert(obj->ob_refcnt > 0);
     Py_DecRef(obj);
 
     PyGILState_Release(gstate);