diff --git a/src/core/lib/surface/call.c b/src/core/lib/surface/call.c
index 601b0c8580955b38bbad97744db6b482cf32d120..d723711c55bf96666833bea3a1ddfc1a4747be23 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/surface/call.c
+++ b/src/core/lib/surface/call.c
@@ -314,7 +314,6 @@ grpc_error *grpc_call_create(const grpc_call_create_args *args,
     const char *error_str;
     grpc_error_get_status(error, &status, &error_str);
     close_with_status(&exec_ctx, call, status, error_str);
-    GRPC_ERROR_UNREF(error);
   }
   if (args->cq != NULL) {
     GPR_ASSERT(