diff --git a/rpyc/core/netref.py b/rpyc/core/netref.py
index 4c2acc8d..9c009741 100644
--- a/rpyc/core/netref.py
+++ b/rpyc/core/netref.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 
 _local_netref_attrs = frozenset([
-    '____conn__', '____oid__', '__class__', '__cmp__', '__del__', '__delattr__',
+    '____conn__', '____oid__', '____refcount__', '__class__', '__cmp__', '__del__', '__delattr__',
     '__dir__', '__doc__', '__getattr__', '__getattribute__', '__hash__',
     '__init__', '__metaclass__', '__module__', '__new__', '__reduce__',
     '__reduce_ex__', '__repr__', '__setattr__', '__slots__', '__str__',
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     _builtin_types.extend([
         bytes, bytearray, type(iter(range(10))), memoryview,
     ])
+    xrange = range
 else:
     _builtin_types.extend([
         basestring, unicode, long, xrange, type(iter(xrange(10))), file,
@@ -116,13 +117,15 @@ class BaseNetref(object):
     """
     # this is okay with py3k -- see below
     __metaclass__ = NetrefMetaclass
-    __slots__ = ["____conn__", "____oid__", "__weakref__"]
+    __slots__ = ["____conn__", "____oid__", "__weakref__", "____refcount__"]
     def __init__(self, conn, oid):
         self.____conn__ = conn
         self.____oid__ = oid
+        self.____refcount__ = 1
+
     def __del__(self):
         try:
-            asyncreq(self, consts.HANDLE_DEL)
+            asyncreq(self, consts.HANDLE_DEL, self.____refcount__)
         except Exception:
             # raised in a destructor, most likely on program termination,
             # when the connection might have already been closed.
diff --git a/rpyc/core/protocol.py b/rpyc/core/protocol.py
index 4a4445f0..d71a3619 100644
--- a/rpyc/core/protocol.py
+++ b/rpyc/core/protocol.py
@@ -315,7 +315,11 @@ def _unbox(self, package):
         if label == consts.LABEL_REMOTE_REF:
             oid, clsname, modname = value
             if oid in self._proxy_cache:
-                return self._proxy_cache[oid]
+                proxy = self._proxy_cache[oid]
+                proxy.____refcount__ += 1  # other side increased refcount on boxing,
+                                           # if I'm returning from cache instead of new object,
+                                           # must increase refcount to match
+                return proxy
             proxy = self._netref_factory(oid, clsname, modname)
             self._proxy_cache[oid] = proxy
             return proxy
@@ -600,7 +604,7 @@ def _handle_close(self):
         self._cleanup()
     def _handle_getroot(self):
         return self._local_root
-    def _handle_del(self, oid):
+    def _handle_del(self, oid, count=1):
         self._local_objects.decref(oid)
     def _handle_repr(self, oid):
         return repr(self._local_objects[oid])
diff --git a/rpyc/lib/colls.py b/rpyc/lib/colls.py
index 5e946a7a..13018620 100644
--- a/rpyc/lib/colls.py
+++ b/rpyc/lib/colls.py
@@ -73,13 +73,13 @@ def add(self, obj):
     def clear(self):
         with self._lock:
             self._dict.clear()
-    def decref(self, key):
+    def decref(self, key, count=1):
         with self._lock:
             slot = self._dict[key]
-            if slot[1] < 1:
+            if slot[1] < count:
                 del self._dict[key]
             else:
-                slot[1] -= 1
+                slot[1] -= count
                 self._dict[key] = slot
     def __getitem__(self, key):
         with self._lock: