diff --git a/src/osx/cocoa/glcanvas.mm b/src/osx/cocoa/glcanvas.mm
index 4c933ab8f1..8783ef4f1c 100644
--- a/src/osx/cocoa/glcanvas.mm
+++ b/src/osx/cocoa/glcanvas.mm
@@ -98,15 +98,14 @@ WXGLPixelFormat WXGLChoosePixelFormat(const int *attribList)
     // available.
     const NSOpenGLPixelFormatAttribute
         attrsAccel[] = { NSOpenGLPFAAccelerated, 0 };
-    WXGLPixelFormat testFormat = [NSOpenGLPixelFormat alloc];
-    if ( [testFormat initWithAttributes: attrsAccel] )
+    if ( WXGLPixelFormat testFormat = [[NSOpenGLPixelFormat alloc]
+                                       initWithAttributes: attrsAccel] )
     {
         // Hardware acceleration is available, use it.
         data[p++] = NSOpenGLPFAAccelerated;
+        [testFormat release];
     }
 
-    [testFormat release];
-
     const NSOpenGLPixelFormatAttribute *attribs;
     if ( !attribList )
     {