diff --git a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.I b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.I
index 3ad239c47a..ee0d5a01b7 100644
--- a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.I
+++ b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.I
@@ -83,6 +83,17 @@ cache_ref() const {
   MutexHolder holder(_lock_mutex);
   CachedTypedWritableReferenceCount::cache_ref();
 }
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: CopyOnWriteObject::cache_unref
+//       Access: Published
+//  Description: See CachedTypedWritableReferenceCount::cache_unref().
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE bool CopyOnWriteObject::
+cache_unref() const {
+  MutexHolder holder(_lock_mutex);
+  return CachedTypedWritableReferenceCount::cache_unref();
+}
 #endif  // COW_THREADED
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.h b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.h
index e7d1ca7be9..633bbfc08a 100644
--- a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.h
+++ b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWriteObject.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ PUBLISHED:
 #ifdef COW_THREADED
   virtual bool unref() const;
   INLINE void cache_ref() const;
+  INLINE bool cache_unref() const;
 #endif  // COW_THREADED
 
 protected:
diff --git a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWritePointer.cxx b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWritePointer.cxx
index 38ba2d63a5..c323cb76c0 100644
--- a/panda/src/putil/copyOnWritePointer.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/putil/copyOnWritePointer.cxx
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 #include "copyOnWritePointer.h"
-#include "mutexHolder.h"
 #include "config_util.h"
 #include "config_pipeline.h"
 
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ get_write_pointer() {
 
   Thread *current_thread = Thread::get_current_thread();
 
-  MutexHolder holder(_cow_object->_lock_mutex);
+  _cow_object->_lock_mutex.acquire();
   while (_cow_object->_lock_status == CopyOnWriteObject::LS_locked_write &&
          _cow_object->_locking_thread != current_thread) {
     if (util_cat.is_debug()) {
@@ -98,10 +97,20 @@ get_write_pointer() {
         << "Making copy of " << _cow_object->get_type()
         << " because it is locked in read mode.\n";
     }
+
     PT(CopyOnWriteObject) new_object = _cow_object->make_cow_copy();
-    cache_unref_delete(_cow_object);
+
+    // We can't call cache_unref_delete, because we hold the lock.
+    if (!_cow_object->CachedTypedWritableReferenceCount::cache_unref()) {
+      _cow_object->_lock_mutex.release();
+      delete _cow_object;
+    } else {
+      _cow_object->_lock_mutex.release();
+    }
     _cow_object = new_object;
     _cow_object->cache_ref();
+    _cow_object->_lock_status = CopyOnWriteObject::LS_locked_write;
+    _cow_object->_locking_thread = current_thread;
 
   } else if (_cow_object->get_cache_ref_count() > 1) {
     // No one else has it specifically read-locked, but there are
@@ -115,9 +124,18 @@ get_write_pointer() {
     }
 
     PT(CopyOnWriteObject) new_object = _cow_object->make_cow_copy();
-    cache_unref_delete(_cow_object);
+
+    // We can't call cache_unref_delete, because we hold the lock.
+    if (!_cow_object->CachedTypedWritableReferenceCount::cache_unref()) {
+      _cow_object->_lock_mutex.release();
+      delete _cow_object;
+    } else {
+      _cow_object->_lock_mutex.release();
+    }
     _cow_object = new_object;
     _cow_object->cache_ref();
+    _cow_object->_lock_status = CopyOnWriteObject::LS_locked_write;
+    _cow_object->_locking_thread = current_thread;
 
   } else {
     // No other thread has the pointer locked, and we're the only
@@ -127,9 +145,10 @@ get_write_pointer() {
     // We can't assert that there are no outstanding ordinary
     // references to it, though, since the creator of the object might
     // have saved himself a reference.
+    _cow_object->_lock_status = CopyOnWriteObject::LS_locked_write;
+    _cow_object->_locking_thread = current_thread;
+    _cow_object->_lock_mutex.release();
   }
-  _cow_object->_lock_status = CopyOnWriteObject::LS_locked_write;
-  _cow_object->_locking_thread = current_thread;
 
   return _cow_object;
 }