diff --git a/thunar/thunar-application.c b/thunar/thunar-application.c
index 53d0b23e2092799ac29ebda7b6dc4ab69ee1485c..0aa11cbcb33fbccd93d0431fc7c46257da906836 100644
--- a/thunar/thunar-application.c
+++ b/thunar/thunar-application.c
@@ -1547,9 +1547,6 @@ thunar_application_process_files_finish (ThunarBrowser *browser,
       application->files_to_launch = g_list_delete_link (application->files_to_launch,
                                                          application->files_to_launch);
 
-      /* release the file */
-      g_object_unref (file);
-
       /* check if we have more files to process */
       if (application->files_to_launch != NULL)
         {
@@ -1562,6 +1559,9 @@ thunar_application_process_files_finish (ThunarBrowser *browser,
   if (startup_id != NULL)
     g_object_set_qdata (G_OBJECT (file), thunar_application_startup_id_quark, NULL);
 
+  /* release the file */
+  g_object_unref (file);
+
   /* release the application */
   g_application_release (G_APPLICATION (application));
 }