diff --git a/coregrind/m_oset.c b/coregrind/m_oset.c
index 245a3974a..acb724eb8 100644
--- a/coregrind/m_oset.c
+++ b/coregrind/m_oset.c
@@ -377,15 +377,12 @@ void VG_(OSetGen_Destroy)(AvlTree* t)
 
    has_node_pa = t->node_pa != NULL;
 
-   if (has_node_pa)
-      VG_(releasePA) (t->node_pa); // decrement ref count.
-
-   if (has_node_pa && VG_(nrRefPA) (t->node_pa) == 0) {
-      /* We are the only remaining user of this pool allocator.
-         => release (more efficiently) all the elements
-         by deleting the pool allocator */
-      VG_(deletePA) (t->node_pa);
-   } else {
+   /*
+    * If we are the only remaining user of this pool allocator, release all
+    * the elements by deleting the pool allocator. That's more efficient than
+    * deleting tree nodes one by one.
+    */
+   if (!has_node_pa || VG_(releasePA)(t->node_pa) > 0) {
       AvlNode* n = NULL;
       Int i = 0;
       Word sz = 0;
diff --git a/coregrind/m_poolalloc.c b/coregrind/m_poolalloc.c
index 88ac4519a..a236a0b68 100644
--- a/coregrind/m_poolalloc.c
+++ b/coregrind/m_poolalloc.c
@@ -137,14 +137,13 @@ void VG_(addRefPA) ( PoolAlloc* pa)
    pa->nrRef++;
 }
 
-void VG_(releasePA) ( PoolAlloc* pa)
+UWord VG_(releasePA)(PoolAlloc* pa)
 {
+   UWord nrRef;
+
    vg_assert(pa->nrRef > 0);
-   pa->nrRef--;
+   nrRef = --pa->nrRef;
+   if (nrRef == 0)
+      VG_(deletePA)(pa);
+   return nrRef;
 }
-
-UWord VG_(nrRefPA) (PoolAlloc* pa)
-{
-   return pa->nrRef;
-}
-
diff --git a/include/pub_tool_poolalloc.h b/include/pub_tool_poolalloc.h
index bc197b07e..bc50daa1e 100644
--- a/include/pub_tool_poolalloc.h
+++ b/include/pub_tool_poolalloc.h
@@ -80,12 +80,10 @@ extern void VG_(freeEltPA) ( PoolAlloc* pa, void* p);
 // VG_(addRefPA) indicates there is a new reference to pa.
 extern void VG_(addRefPA) ( PoolAlloc* pa);
 
-// VG_(releasePA) indicates a reference to pa has been released.
-extern void VG_(releasePA) ( PoolAlloc* pa);
-
-// Returns the current nr of reference to pa.
-// When this drops to 0, VG_(deletePA) can be called by the pa user.
-extern UWord VG_(nrRefPA) (PoolAlloc* pa);
+// VG_(releasePA) decrements the pa reference count and deletes the pa if that
+// reference count has dropped to zero. Returns the new value of the reference
+// count.
+extern UWord VG_(releasePA) ( PoolAlloc* pa);
 
 #endif   // __PUB_TOOL_POOLALLOC_