diff --git a/src/core/lib/iomgr/buffer_list.h b/src/core/lib/iomgr/buffer_list.h
index 215ab03a563..3dba15312d6 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/iomgr/buffer_list.h
+++ b/src/core/lib/iomgr/buffer_list.h
@@ -148,7 +148,9 @@ class TracedBuffer {
  public:
   /* Dummy shutdown function */
   static void Shutdown(grpc_core::TracedBuffer** head, void* remaining,
-                       grpc_error* shutdown_err) {}
+                       grpc_error* shutdown_err) {
+    GRPC_ERROR_UNREF(shutdown_err);
+  }
 };
 #endif /* GRPC_LINUX_ERRQUEUE */