diff --git a/src/engine/engine_d2c.c b/src/engine/engine_d2c.c
index e55320f..2a6b86a 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine_d2c.c
+++ b/src/engine/engine_d2c.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright(c) 2012-2022 Intel Corporation
- * Copyright(c) 2024 Huawei Technologies
+ * Copyright(c) 2024-2025 Huawei Technologies
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
 #include "ocf/ocf.h"
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ int ocf_d2c_io_fast(struct ocf_request *req)
 {
 	OCF_DEBUG_TRACE(req->cache);
 
-	/* Get OCF request - increase reference counter */
+	/* Increase reference counter - once for submission and second time to
+	 * avoid freeing the request before updating stats
+	 */
+	ocf_req_get(req);
 	ocf_req_get(req);
 
 	ocf_engine_forward_core_io_req(req, _ocf_d2c_completion);
@@ -46,6 +49,8 @@ int ocf_d2c_io_fast(struct ocf_request *req)
 	ocf_core_stats_request_pt_update(req->core, req->part_id, req->rw,
 			req->info.hit_no, req->core_line_count);
 
+	ocf_req_put(req);
+
 	return 0;
 }