diff --git a/src/auth.c b/src/auth.c
index b41b313..496648a 100644
--- a/src/auth.c
+++ b/src/auth.c
@@ -398,7 +398,6 @@ static int _handle_digestmd5_challenge(xmpp_conn_t *conn,
                     NULL);
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
     } else {
         return _handle_sasl_result(conn, stanza, "DIGEST-MD5");
@@ -432,7 +431,6 @@ static int _handle_digestmd5_rspauth(xmpp_conn_t *conn,
         xmpp_stanza_set_name(auth, "response");
         xmpp_stanza_set_ns(auth, XMPP_NS_SASL);
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
     } else {
         return _handle_sasl_result(conn, stanza, "DIGEST-MD5");
     }
@@ -495,7 +493,6 @@ static int _handle_scram_challenge(xmpp_conn_t *conn,
         xmpp_stanza_release(authdata);
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         rc = 1; /* Keep handler */
     } else {
@@ -625,7 +622,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     NULL);
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* TLS was tried, unset flag */
         conn->tls_support = 0;
@@ -653,7 +649,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     "ANONYMOUS");
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* SASL ANONYMOUS was tried, unset flag */
         conn->sasl_support &= ~SASL_MASK_ANONYMOUS;
@@ -696,7 +691,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     "EXTERNAL");
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* SASL EXTERNAL was tried, unset flag */
         conn->sasl_support &= ~SASL_MASK_EXTERNAL;
@@ -761,7 +755,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     (void *)scram_ctx);
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* SASL SCRAM-SHA-1 was tried, unset flag */
         conn->sasl_support &= ~scram_ctx->alg->mask;
@@ -776,7 +769,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     NULL);
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* SASL DIGEST-MD5 was tried, unset flag */
         conn->sasl_support &= ~SASL_MASK_DIGESTMD5;
@@ -812,7 +804,6 @@ static void _auth(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
                     "PLAIN");
 
         send_stanza(conn, auth, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(auth);
 
         /* SASL PLAIN was tried */
         conn->sasl_support &= ~SASL_MASK_PLAIN;
@@ -935,7 +926,6 @@ static int _do_bind(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_stanza_t *bind)
 
     /* send bind request */
     send_stanza(conn, iq, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-    xmpp_stanza_release(iq);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -999,7 +989,6 @@ _handle_features_sasl(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_stanza_t *stanza, void *userdata)
         strophe_snprintf(h, sizeof(h), "%u", conn->sm_state->sm_handled_nr);
         xmpp_stanza_set_attribute(resume, "h", h);
         send_stanza(conn, resume, XMPP_QUEUE_SM_STROPHE);
-        xmpp_stanza_release(resume);
         handler_add(conn, _handle_sm, XMPP_NS_SM, NULL, NULL, NULL);
     }
     /* if bind is required, go ahead and start it */
@@ -1085,7 +1074,6 @@ _handle_bind(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_stanza_t *stanza, void *userdata)
 
             /* send session establishment request */
             send_stanza(conn, iq, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-            xmpp_stanza_release(iq);
         }
 
         if (conn->sm_state->sm_support && !conn->sm_disable) {
@@ -1100,7 +1088,6 @@ _handle_bind(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_stanza_t *stanza, void *userdata)
                 xmpp_stanza_set_attribute(enable, "resume", "true");
             handler_add(conn, _handle_sm, XMPP_NS_SM, NULL, NULL, NULL);
             send_stanza(conn, enable, XMPP_QUEUE_SM_STROPHE);
-            xmpp_stanza_release(enable);
         }
 
         if (!conn->session_required) {
@@ -1425,7 +1412,6 @@ static void _auth_legacy(xmpp_conn_t *conn)
     handler_add_timed(conn, _handle_missing_legacy, LEGACY_TIMEOUT, NULL);
 
     send_stanza(conn, iq, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-    xmpp_stanza_release(iq);
     return;
 
 err_free:
diff --git a/src/conn.c b/src/conn.c
index 98d5493..7fc46f2 100644
--- a/src/conn.c
+++ b/src/conn.c
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ void xmpp_send_error(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_error_type_t type, char *text)
     xmpp_stanza_t *error = xmpp_error_new(conn->ctx, type, text);
 
     send_stanza(conn, error, XMPP_QUEUE_STROPHE);
-
-    xmpp_stanza_release(error);
 }
 
 /** Create a new Strophe connection object.
@@ -1073,7 +1071,7 @@ void xmpp_send_raw(xmpp_conn_t *conn, const char *data, size_t len)
  */
 void xmpp_send(xmpp_conn_t *conn, xmpp_stanza_t *stanza)
 {
-    send_stanza(conn, stanza, XMPP_QUEUE_USER);
+    send_stanza(conn, xmpp_stanza_clone(stanza), XMPP_QUEUE_USER);
 }
 
 /** Send the opening <stream:stream> tag to the server.
@@ -1738,7 +1736,6 @@ static void _conn_sm_handle_stanza(xmpp_conn_t *const conn,
             strophe_snprintf(h, sizeof(h), "%u", conn->sm_state->sm_handled_nr);
             xmpp_stanza_set_attribute(a, "h", h);
             send_stanza(conn, a, XMPP_QUEUE_SM_STROPHE);
-            xmpp_stanza_release(a);
         } else if (strcmp(name, "a") == 0) {
             attr_h = xmpp_stanza_get_attribute(stanza, "h");
             if (!attr_h) {
@@ -1972,14 +1969,16 @@ void send_stanza(xmpp_conn_t *conn,
     size_t len;
 
     if (conn->state != XMPP_STATE_CONNECTED)
-        return;
+        goto out;
 
     if (xmpp_stanza_to_text(stanza, &buf, &len) != 0) {
         strophe_error(conn->ctx, "conn", "Failed to stanza_to_text");
-        return;
+        goto out;
     }
 
     _send_raw(conn, buf, len, owner, NULL);
+out:
+    xmpp_stanza_release(stanza);
 }
 
 void add_queue_back(xmpp_queue_t *queue, xmpp_send_queue_t *item)