diff --git a/pygit2.c b/pygit2.c
index 483b012..6a65f3a 100644
--- a/pygit2.c
+++ b/pygit2.c
@@ -1658,7 +1658,9 @@ static PyTypeObject BlobType = {
 static void
 Tag_dealloc(Tag *self)
 {
+    git_tag_close(self->tag);
     Py_XDECREF(self->target);
+    Py_XDECREF(self->repo);
     Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
 }
 
diff --git a/test/test_tag.py b/test/test_tag.py
index 0c8989d..ad786f0 100644
--- a/test/test_tag.py
+++ b/test/test_tag.py
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ class TagTest(utils.BareRepoTestCase):
         self.assertEqual('Tagged root commit.\n', tag.message)
 
         commit = tag.target
-        del tag
         self.assertEqual('Initial test data commit.\n', commit.message)
 
     def test_new_tag(self):