diff --git a/examples/simple-p2p.cc b/examples/simple-p2p.cc
index 2ec17cf80..43dfb5303 100644
--- a/examples/simple-p2p.cc
+++ b/examples/simple-p2p.cc
@@ -184,11 +184,11 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
   ipv4->SetDefaultRoute (Ipv4Address ("10.1.3.1"), 1);
   ipv4->Unref ();
 
-  n0->Unref ();
-  n1->Unref ();
-  n2->Unref ();
-  n3->Unref ();
-
+  n0 = 0;
+  n1 = 0;
+  n2 = 0;
+  n3 = 0;
+  
   // Configure tracing of all enqueue, dequeue, and NetDevice receive events
   // Trace output will be sent to the simple-p2p.tr file
   AsciiTrace asciitrace ("simple-p2p.tr");
diff --git a/src/applications/application.cc b/src/applications/application.cc
index 9379c87e4..6c62fe5ba 100644
--- a/src/applications/application.cc
+++ b/src/applications/application.cc
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ Application::Application(Ptr<Node> n)
       m_startVar(0), m_stopVar(0),
       m_start(false), m_stop(false)
 {
-  m_node->Ref ();
 }
 
 Application::Application(const Application& o)
@@ -47,7 +46,6 @@ Application::Application(const Application& o)
       m_start(false), m_stop(false)
 { // Copy constructor
   m_node = o.m_node;
-  m_node->Ref ();
   // Copy the start and stop random variables if they exist
   if (o.m_startVar) m_startVar = o.m_startVar->Copy();
   if (o.m_stopVar)  m_stopVar  = o.m_stopVar->Copy();
@@ -65,7 +63,6 @@ Application::DoDispose (void)
 {
   if (m_node != 0)
     {
-      m_node->Unref ();
       m_node = 0;
     }
   if (m_start) 
@@ -87,10 +84,7 @@ Application::DoDispose (void)
 Application& Application::operator=(const Application& rhs)
 {
   if (this == &rhs) return *this; // Self assignment
-  m_node->Unref ();
-  m_node = 0;
   m_node = rhs.m_node;
-  m_node->Ref ();
 
   delete m_startVar;
   m_startVar = 0;
@@ -149,12 +143,7 @@ void Application::Stop(const RandomVariable& stopVar)
 // an application to a node.
 void Application::SetNode(Ptr<Node> n)
 {
-  if (m_node != 0)
-    {
-      m_node->Unref ();
-    }
   m_node = n;
-  m_node->Ref ();
 }
   
 Ptr<Node> Application::PeekNode() const
diff --git a/src/node/net-device.cc b/src/node/net-device.cc
index 401fb2a52..1f626d0f5 100644
--- a/src/node/net-device.cc
+++ b/src/node/net-device.cc
@@ -40,12 +40,10 @@ NetDevice::NetDevice(Ptr<Node> node, const MacAddress& addr) :
   m_isMulticast (false), 
   m_isPointToPoint (false)
 {
-  m_node->Ref ();
 }
 
 NetDevice::~NetDevice ()
 {
-  m_node->Unref ();
   m_node = 0;
 }