diff --git a/scst/include/scst.h b/scst/include/scst.h
index 24a40fcaa..35af18bd8 100644
--- a/scst/include/scst.h
+++ b/scst/include/scst.h
@@ -2317,6 +2317,9 @@ struct scst_cmd {
 	/* Set by WRITE VERIFY commands to trigger a verify after write */
 	unsigned int do_verify:1;
 
+	/* For debugging purposes. */
+	unsigned int owns_refcnt:1;
+
 	/**************************************************************/
 
 	/* cmd's async flags */
diff --git a/scst/src/scst_targ.c b/scst/src/scst_targ.c
index 450265082..bee0ae2de 100644
--- a/scst/src/scst_targ.c
+++ b/scst/src/scst_targ.c
@@ -4504,6 +4504,7 @@ static int scst_pre_xmit_response1(struct scst_cmd *cmd)
 		 * latency, so we should decrement them after cmd completed.
 		 */
 		smp_mb__before_atomic_dec();
+		cmd->owns_refcnt = false;
 		scst_tgt_dev_dec_cmd_count(cmd->tgt_dev);
 		percpu_ref_put(&cmd->dev->refcnt);
 #ifdef CONFIG_SCST_PER_DEVICE_CMD_COUNT_LIMIT
@@ -4693,6 +4694,8 @@ static int scst_finish_cmd(struct scst_cmd *cmd)
 
 	TRACE_ENTRY();
 
+	WARN_ON_ONCE(cmd->owns_refcnt);
+
 	if (unlikely(cmd->delivery_status != SCST_CMD_DELIVERY_SUCCESS)) {
 		if ((cmd->tgt_dev != NULL) &&
 		    (cmd->status == SAM_STAT_CHECK_CONDITION) &&
@@ -5156,6 +5159,7 @@ static int __scst_init_cmd(struct scst_cmd *cmd)
 			failure = true;
 		}
 
+		cmd->owns_refcnt = true;
 		percpu_ref_get(&dev->refcnt);
 #ifdef CONFIG_SCST_PER_DEVICE_CMD_COUNT_LIMIT
 		atomic_inc(&dev->dev_cmd_count);