diff --git a/ios/ViewController.mm b/ios/ViewController.mm
index 4fd1c60739..2c9bbf436d 100644
--- a/ios/ViewController.mm
+++ b/ios/ViewController.mm
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ extern ScreenManager *screenManager;
 extern bool iosCanUseJit;
 extern bool targetIsJailbroken;
 
-ViewController* sharedViewController;
+__unsafe_unretained static ViewController* sharedViewController;
 static GraphicsContext *graphicsContext;
 
 @interface ViewController ()