diff --git a/runtime/exception_test.cc b/runtime/exception_test.cc
index 8f542d8..978faeb 100644
--- a/runtime/exception_test.cc
+++ b/runtime/exception_test.cc
@@ -37,11 +37,13 @@
     CommonTest::SetUp();
 
     ScopedObjectAccess soa(Thread::Current());
-    SirtRef<mirror::ClassLoader> class_loader(soa.Self(),
-                                      soa.Decode<mirror::ClassLoader*>(LoadDex("ExceptionHandle")));
+    SirtRef<mirror::ClassLoader> class_loader(
+        soa.Self(), soa.Decode<mirror::ClassLoader*>(LoadDex("ExceptionHandle")));
     my_klass_ = class_linker_->FindClass("LExceptionHandle;", class_loader);
     ASSERT_TRUE(my_klass_ != NULL);
-    class_linker_->EnsureInitialized(my_klass_, true, true);
+    SirtRef<mirror::Class> sirt_klass(soa.Self(), my_klass_);
+    class_linker_->EnsureInitialized(sirt_klass, true, true);
+    my_klass_ = sirt_klass.get();
 
     dex_ = my_klass_->GetDexCache()->GetDexFile();