diff --git a/src/storage/slab/slab.c b/src/storage/slab/slab.c
index d9d2b6435..c402bb022 100644
--- a/src/storage/slab/slab.c
+++ b/src/storage/slab/slab.c
@@ -189,6 +189,9 @@ _slab_recreate_items(struct slab *slab)
             }
         } else if (it->in_freeq) {
             _slab_put_item_into_freeq(it, slab->id);
+        } else if (it->klen && it->vlen == 0) {
+           /* item could be only reserved before reset */
+           item_release(&it);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/storage/slab_pmem/check_slab_pmem.c b/test/storage/slab_pmem/check_slab_pmem.c
index 9f600887f..cf29c5f99 100644
--- a/test/storage/slab_pmem/check_slab_pmem.c
+++ b/test/storage/slab_pmem/check_slab_pmem.c
@@ -1003,9 +1003,6 @@ START_TEST(test_evict_refcount)
     status = item_reserve(&it, &key, &val, val.len, 0, INT32_MAX);
     ck_assert_msg(status == ITEM_OK, "item_reserve not OK - return status %d", status);
 
-    test_teardown(0);
-    slab_setup(&options, &metrics);
-
     status = item_reserve(&nit, &key, &val, val.len, 0, INT32_MAX);
     ck_assert_msg(status == ITEM_ENOMEM, "item_reserve should fail - return status %d", status);