diff --git a/mouse.c b/mouse.c
index b5efbe98..852e4fb0 100644
--- a/mouse.c
+++ b/mouse.c
@@ -875,6 +875,17 @@ luaA_mouse_new(lua_State *L)
     return luaA_mouse_userdata_new(button);
 }
 
+/** Handle mouse garbage collection.
+ */
+static int
+luaA_mouse_gc(lua_State *L)
+{
+    button_t **b = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "mouse");
+    button_unref(b);
+    *b = NULL;
+    return 0;
+}
+
 const struct luaL_reg awesome_mouse_methods[] =
 {
     { "new", luaA_mouse_new },
@@ -884,6 +895,7 @@ const struct luaL_reg awesome_mouse_methods[] =
 };
 const struct luaL_reg awesome_mouse_meta[] =
 {
+    { "__gc", luaA_mouse_gc },
     { NULL, NULL }
 };