diff --git a/projects/clr/rocclr/platform/command.hpp b/projects/clr/rocclr/platform/command.hpp
index 65bf582a3a..395d4642e0 100644
--- a/projects/clr/rocclr/platform/command.hpp
+++ b/projects/clr/rocclr/platform/command.hpp
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ class Command : public Event {
   //! Update with the list of events this command needs to wait on before dispatch
   void updateEventWaitList(const EventWaitList& waitList) {
     for (auto event : waitList) {
+      event->retain();
       eventWaitList_.push_back(event);
     }
   }