refcount_dec(9)

🎀 NAME 🎀

refcount_dec(9) — decrement a refcount, and yep this is the Kernel API Manual page for it, bestie 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void refcount_dec (refcount_t *r );

💅 ARGUMENTS 💅

• r — the refcount, aka the lil counter getting decremented 🫶

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Okay so listen: refcount_dec is similar to atomic_dec, but with boundaries and main-character safety energy. It will WARN on underflow 😭 and it will fail to decrement when it's saturated at REFCOUNT_SATURATED. Like, the counter said “nope, we're maxed out,” periodt.

It also provides release memory ordering, such that prior loads and stores are done before. So the earlier load/store business is completed first — release ordering slay 💅✨

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Kernel file ./include/linux/refcount.h is the home base 🏠 — go give these related pages some love too:

• refcount_set(9)
• refcount_set_release(9)
• refcount_read(9)
• refcount_add_not_zero(9)
• refcount_add_not_zero_acquire(9)
• refcount_add(9)
• refcount_inc_not_zero(9)
• refcount_inc_not_zero_acquire(9)
• refcount_inc(9)
• refcount_sub_and_test(9)
• refcount_dec_and_test(9)

Sign-off time 🎀 this page lives in the ./include/linux source tree, dated October 2026, and it's literally refcount_dec(9) — bye bestie, go decrement responsibly 💖🦋