diff --git a/packages/runtime-core/src/renderer.ts b/packages/runtime-core/src/renderer.ts
index 37f5a2ed7d3..3baea539a87 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-core/src/renderer.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-core/src/renderer.ts
@@ -1456,11 +1456,6 @@ function baseCreateRenderer(
         const prevTree = instance.subTree
         instance.subTree = nextTree
 
-        // reset refs
-        // only needed if previous patch had refs
-        if (instance.refs !== EMPTY_OBJ) {
-          instance.refs = {}
-        }
         if (__DEV__) {
           startMeasure(instance, `patch`)
         }