diff --git a/sparsebundlefs.cpp b/sparsebundlefs.cpp
index 041c80f..8dfdf58 100644
--- a/sparsebundlefs.cpp
+++ b/sparsebundlefs.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ struct sparsebundle_data {
     char *path;
     off_t band_size;
     off_t size;
+    off_t times_opened;
 };
 
 #define SB_DATA_CAST(ptr) ((struct sparsebundle_data *) ptr)
@@ -70,6 +71,10 @@ static int sparsebundle_open(const char *path, struct fuse_file_info *fi)
     if ((fi->flags & O_ACCMODE) != O_RDONLY)
         return -EACCES;
 
+    SB_DATA->times_opened++;
+    syslog(LOG_DEBUG, "opened %s, now referenced %llx times",
+        SB_DATA->path, SB_DATA->times_opened);
+
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -139,6 +144,19 @@ static int sparsebundle_read(const char *path, char *buffer, size_t length, off_
     return bytes_read;
 }
 
+static int sparsebundle_release(const char *path, struct fuse_file_info *fi)
+{
+    SB_DATA->times_opened--;
+    syslog(LOG_DEBUG, "closed %s, now referenced %llx times",
+        SB_DATA->path, SB_DATA->times_opened);
+
+    if (SB_DATA->times_opened == 0) {
+        syslog(LOG_DEBUG, "no more references to sparsebundle, cleaning up");
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static int sparsebundle_show_usage(char *program_name)
 {
     fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s [-o options] [-f] [-D] <sparsebundle> <mountpoint>\n", program_name);
@@ -238,6 +256,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     sparsebundle_filesystem_operations.open = sparsebundle_open;
     sparsebundle_filesystem_operations.read = sparsebundle_read;
     sparsebundle_filesystem_operations.readdir = sparsebundle_readdir;
+    sparsebundle_filesystem_operations.release = sparsebundle_release;
 
     return fuse_main(args.argc, args.argv, &sparsebundle_filesystem_operations, &data);
 }