diff --git a/pyopencl/_cffi.py b/pyopencl/_cffi.py
index c5e32568126a8543f246cd9688f8ab5ed842e7db..eeeb7d84e492f304a9bf5e6623e4acb42d0a9a1b 100644
--- a/pyopencl/_cffi.py
+++ b/pyopencl/_cffi.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ _gc_collect = _ffi.callback('int(void)')(gc.collect)
 _lib.set_gc(_gc_collect)
 
 _pyrefs = {}
-@_ffi.callback('void(int)')
+@_ffi.callback('void(unsigned long)')
 def _py_deref(_id):
     try:
         del _pyrefs[_id]
@@ -176,10 +176,12 @@ def _py_deref(_id):
         pass
 
 def _get_insert_func(obj):
-    @_ffi.callback('void(int)')
+    @_ffi.callback('void(unsigned long)')
     def _insert(_id):
         _pyref[_id] = obj
     return _insert
 
 def _find_obj(_id):
     return _pyref[_id]
+
+_lib.set_deref(_py_deref)
diff --git a/pyopencl/c_wrapper/wrap_cl_core.h b/pyopencl/c_wrapper/wrap_cl_core.h
index 26b78dd77d4320bcd0c658722900094791494802..af3088ba70c9834fb87215e33fc0d56306a33f6c 100644
--- a/pyopencl/c_wrapper/wrap_cl_core.h
+++ b/pyopencl/c_wrapper/wrap_cl_core.h
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ int get_cl_version();
 void free_pointer(void*);
 void free_pointer_array(void**, uint32_t size);
 void set_gc(int (*func)());
+void set_deref(void (*func)(unsigned long));
 int have_gl();
 
 unsigned bitlog2(unsigned long v);
diff --git a/pyopencl/cffi_cl.py b/pyopencl/cffi_cl.py
index f8fe9c9bb51bcaebda3e0878335d7784a7207c31..9c286254ee077d8d15cc9ddc76a94189c5a3528f 100644
--- a/pyopencl/cffi_cl.py
+++ b/pyopencl/cffi_cl.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ else:
         _bytes = str
 
 
-def _convert_str(s):
+def _to_cstring(s):
     if isinstance(s, _unicode):
         return s.encode()
     return s
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ except AttributeError:
 class _CArray(object):
     def __init__(self, ptr):
         self.ptr = ptr
-        self.size = _ffi.new('uint32_t *')
+        self.size = _ffi.new('uint32_t*')
 
     def __del__(self):
         if self.ptr != _ffi.NULL:
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ class _Program(_Common):
     def _init_source(self, context, src):
         ptr_program = _ffi.new('void **')
         _handle_error(_lib.create_program_with_source(
-            ptr_program, context.ptr, _convert_str(src)))
+            ptr_program, context.ptr, _to_cstring(src)))
         self.ptr = ptr_program[0]
 
     def _init_binary(self, context, devices, binaries):
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ class _Program(_Common):
 
         _handle_error(
                 _lib.program__build(self.ptr,
-                    _convert_str(options), num_devices,
+                    _to_cstring(options), num_devices,
                     _ffi.cast('void**', ptr_devices)))
 
     def get_build_info(self, device, param):
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ class Kernel(_Common):
     def __init__(self, program, name):
         ptr_kernel = _ffi.new('void **')
         _handle_error(_lib.create_kernel(ptr_kernel, program.ptr,
-                                         _convert_str(name)))
+                                         _to_cstring(name)))
         self.ptr = ptr_kernel[0]
 
     def set_arg(self, arg_index, arg):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 29bd7c0ed0dafed1f4a80332c0a0af8b4a249704..062681a2693778e2e94e103ab560241c215a3daa 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ def main():
                                ["src/c_wrapper/wrap_cl.cpp",
                                 "src/c_wrapper/wrap_constants.cpp",
                                 "src/c_wrapper/bitlog.cpp",
+                                "src/c_wrapper/pyhelper.cpp",
                                 #"src/c_wrapper/wrap_mempool.cpp",
                                 ],
                                include_dirs=(
diff --git a/src/c_wrapper/pyhelper.cpp b/src/c_wrapper/pyhelper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4ea2113e0384c9de0fb10062e019794a793a978c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/c_wrapper/pyhelper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#include "utils.h"
+#include "error.h"
+#include <atomic>
+
+namespace pyopencl {
+
+static std::atomic<unsigned long> pyobj_id = ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0ul);
+unsigned long
+next_obj_id()
+{
+    return std::atomic_fetch_add(&pyobj_id, 1ul);
+}
+
+static int
+dummy_python_gc()
+{
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+dummy_python_deref(unsigned long)
+{
+}
+
+int (*python_gc)() = dummy_python_gc;
+void (*python_deref)(unsigned long) = dummy_python_deref;
+
+}
+
+void
+set_gc(int (*func)())
+{
+    pyopencl::python_gc = func ? func : pyopencl::dummy_python_gc;
+}
+
+void
+set_deref(void (*func)(unsigned long))
+{
+    pyopencl::python_deref = func ? func : pyopencl::dummy_python_deref;
+}
diff --git a/src/c_wrapper/utils.h b/src/c_wrapper/utils.h
index 57bdad7909080a254f95ac94cd7ad78d6becbb77..adc414db31c7cfd6fa64bc3c79c96d5fc2ca12d3 100644
--- a/src/c_wrapper/utils.h
+++ b/src/c_wrapper/utils.h
@@ -307,6 +307,9 @@ get_int_info(cl_int (*func)(ArgTypes...), const char *name,
 
 // }}}
 
+unsigned long next_obj_id();
+extern void (*python_deref)(unsigned long);
+
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/c_wrapper/wrap_cl.cpp b/src/c_wrapper/wrap_cl.cpp
index b6dd1bcc54e243d425b5986311139ea43dfbc39e..7478675b5a49a6b32dca64cb56367b7b38dacdb8 100644
--- a/src/c_wrapper/wrap_cl.cpp
+++ b/src/c_wrapper/wrap_cl.cpp
@@ -78,14 +78,6 @@ pyopencl_get_ext_fun(cl_platform_id, const char *name, const char *err)
 
 namespace pyopencl {
 
-static int
-dummy_python_gc()
-{
-    return 0;
-}
-
-int (*python_gc)() = dummy_python_gc;
-
 // {{{ platform
 
 class platform : public clobj<cl_platform_id> {
@@ -1830,12 +1822,6 @@ free_pointer_array(void **p, uint32_t size)
     }
 }
 
-void
-set_gc(int (*func)())
-{
-    python_gc = func ? func : dummy_python_gc;
-}
-
 int
 have_gl()
 {