diff --git a/src/V3LinkInc.cpp b/src/V3LinkInc.cpp
index 3fbb7999a..a770b7017 100644
--- a/src/V3LinkInc.cpp
+++ b/src/V3LinkInc.cpp
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ class LinkIncVisitor final : public VNVisitor {
         AstVar* const varp = new AstVar{
             fl, VVarType::BLOCKTEMP, name, VFlagChildDType{},
             new AstRefDType{fl, AstRefDType::FlagTypeOfExpr{}, readp->cloneTree(true)}};
+        varp->lifetime(VLifetime::AUTOMATIC_EXPLICIT);
         if (m_ftaskp) varp->funcLocal(true);
 
         // Declare the variable