diff --git a/src/cocoa/icon.mm b/src/cocoa/icon.mm
index 5299b5a645..f3cb56d6d7 100644
--- a/src/cocoa/icon.mm
+++ b/src/cocoa/icon.mm
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 #endif //WX_PRECOMP
 #include "wx/bitmap.h"
 
+#include "wx/cocoa/autorelease.h"
+
 #import <AppKit/NSImage.h>
 
 // ========================================================================
@@ -122,7 +124,8 @@ void wxIcon::CopyFromBitmap(const wxBitmap& bitmap)
     m_refData = new wxIconRefData;
     M_ICONDATA->m_width = bitmap.GetWidth();
     M_ICONDATA->m_height = bitmap.GetHeight();
-    M_ICONDATA->m_cocoaNSImage = bitmap.GetNSImage(true);
+    wxAutoNSAutoreleasePool pool;
+    M_ICONDATA->m_cocoaNSImage = [bitmap.GetNSImage(true) retain];
     M_ICONDATA->m_ok = bitmap.Ok();
     M_ICONDATA->m_numColors = 0;
     M_ICONDATA->m_quality = 0;