diff --git a/include/refcount.h b/include/refcount.h
index 5bb9660..68fb8fc 100644
--- a/include/refcount.h
+++ b/include/refcount.h
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ static inline unsigned int
 refcount_unsafe_ref (refcount_t *ref)
 {
   unsigned int r;
-  r = __atomic_add_fetch (ref, 1, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r = __atomic_add_fetch (ref, 1, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r != UINT_MAX || !"refcount overflowed!");
   return r;
 }
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static inline unsigned int
 refcount_deref (refcount_t *ref)
 {
   unsigned int r;
-  r = __atomic_sub_fetch (ref, 1, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r = __atomic_sub_fetch (ref, 1, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r != UINT_MAX || !"refcount underflowed!");
   return r;
 }
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ refcount_deref (refcount_t *ref)
 static inline unsigned int
 refcount_references (refcount_t *ref)
 {
-  return __atomic_load_n (ref, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  return __atomic_load_n (ref, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
 }
 
 /* Reference counting with weak references.  */
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ refcounts_unsafe_ref (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
 {
   const union _references op = { .references = { .hard = 1 } };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.hard != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount overflowed!");
   if (result)
     *result = r.references;
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ refcounts_deref (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
 {
   const union _references op = { .references = { .hard = 1 } };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_sub_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_sub_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.hard != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount underflowed!");
   if (result)
     *result = r.references;
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ refcounts_promote (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
   const union _references op =
     { .references = { .weak = ~0U, .hard = 1} };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.hard != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount overflowed!");
   assert (r.references.weak != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount underflowed!");
   if (result)
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ refcounts_demote (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
      operation.  */
   const union _references op = { .references = { .hard = ~0U } };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.hard != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount underflowed!");
   assert (r.references.weak != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount overflowed!");
   if (result)
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ refcounts_unsafe_ref_weak (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
 {
   const union _references op = { .references = { .weak = 1 } };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_add_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.weak != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount overflowed!");
   if (result)
     *result = r.references;
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ refcounts_deref_weak (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
 {
   const union _references op = { .references = { .weak = 1 } };
   union _references r;
-  r.value = __atomic_sub_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value = __atomic_sub_fetch (&ref->value, op.value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   assert (r.references.weak != UINT32_MAX || !"refcount underflowed!");
   if (result)
     *result = r.references;
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ static inline void
 refcounts_references (refcounts_t *ref, struct references *result)
 {
   union _references r;
-  r.value =__atomic_load_n (&ref->value, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+  r.value =__atomic_load_n (&ref->value, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
   *result = r.references;
 }