diff --git a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-monitor.c b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-monitor.c
index 3abe1c2478..29765a26a3 100644
--- a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-monitor.c
+++ b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-monitor.c
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ gst_qa_monitor_do_report_valist (GstQaMonitor * monitor,
   if (GST_QA_MONITOR_GET_RUNNER (monitor)) {
     gst_qa_runner_add_report (GST_QA_MONITOR_GET_RUNNER (monitor), report);
   } else {
-    gst_qa_report_free (report);
+    gst_qa_report_unref (report);
   }
 
   g_free (message);
diff --git a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.c b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.c
index 575572949c..a1dfe2e4ff 100644
--- a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.c
+++ b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.c
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 
 static GstClockTime _gst_qa_report_start_time = 0;
 
+G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GstQaReport, gst_qa_report,
+    (GBoxedCopyFunc) gst_qa_report_ref, (GBoxedFreeFunc) gst_qa_report_unref);
+
 void
 gst_qa_report_init (void)
 {
@@ -159,11 +162,21 @@ gst_qa_report_new (GstObject * source, GstQaReportLevel level,
 }
 
 void
-gst_qa_report_free (GstQaReport * report)
+gst_qa_report_unref (GstQaReport * report)
 {
-  g_free (report->message);
-  g_object_unref (report->source);
-  g_slice_free (GstQaReport, report);
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (g_atomic_int_dec_and_test (&report->refcount))) {
+    g_free (report->message);
+    g_object_unref (report->source);
+    g_slice_free (GstQaReport, report);
+  }
+}
+
+GstQaReport *
+gst_qa_report_ref (GstQaReport * report)
+{
+  g_atomic_int_inc (&report->refcount);
+
+  return report;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.h b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.h
index 0c6b9df9b8..2b887e4527 100644
--- a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.h
+++ b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-report.h
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
 
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
+GType           gst_qa_report_get_type (void);
+#define GST_TYPE_QA_REPORT (gst_qa_report_get_type ())
+
 typedef enum {
   GST_QA_REPORT_LEVEL_CRITICAL,
   GST_QA_REPORT_LEVEL_WARNING,
@@ -73,6 +76,8 @@ typedef enum {
 } GstQaReportAreaCapsNegotiation;
 
 typedef struct {
+  gint    refcount;
+
   GstQaReportLevel level;
   GstQaReportArea area;
   gint subarea;
@@ -93,7 +98,8 @@ typedef struct {
 void               gst_qa_report_init (void);
 GstQaReport *      gst_qa_report_new (GstObject * source, GstQaReportLevel level, GstQaReportArea area,
                                       gint subarea, const gchar * message);
-void               gst_qa_report_free (GstQaReport * report);
+void               gst_qa_report_unref (GstQaReport * report);
+GstQaReport *      gst_qa_report_ref   (GstQaReport * report);
 
 void               gst_qa_report_printf (GstQaReport * report);
 
diff --git a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-runner.c b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-runner.c
index 051b300168..1f3294a673 100644
--- a/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-runner.c
+++ b/validate/gst/qa/gst-qa-runner.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ gst_qa_runner_dispose (GObject * object)
   if (runner->pipeline)
     gst_object_unref (runner->pipeline);
 
-  g_slist_free_full (runner->reports, (GDestroyNotify) gst_qa_report_free);
+  g_slist_free_full (runner->reports, (GDestroyNotify) gst_qa_report_unref);
 
   if (runner->monitor)
     g_object_unref (runner->monitor);