diff --git a/rtrefresh/rt_refresh_manager.go b/rtrefresh/rt_refresh_manager.go
index 44d22c38a..1dc9b7e7e 100644
--- a/rtrefresh/rt_refresh_manager.go
+++ b/rtrefresh/rt_refresh_manager.go
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ func (r *RtRefreshManager) Close() error {
 // error and close. The channel is buffered and safe to ignore.
 func (r *RtRefreshManager) Refresh(force bool) <-chan error {
 	resp := make(chan error, 1)
+	r.refcount.Add(1)
 	go func() {
+		defer r.refcount.Done()
 		select {
 		case r.triggerRefresh <- &triggerRefreshReq{respCh: resp, forceCplRefresh: force}:
 		case <-r.ctx.Done():