diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 46a1ed41ca..3676e88ab8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -289,6 +289,11 @@ if (APPLE OR CMAKE_SYSTEM MATCHES "Linux")
   list(APPEND LIBNANOGUI_PYTHON_EXTRA_SOURCE ext/coro/coro.c)
 endif()
 
+if (APPLE)
+  # Use automatic reference counting for Objective-C portions
+  add_compile_options(-fobjc-arc)
+endif()
+
 add_definitions(${NANOGUI_EXTRA_DEFS})
 
 # Compile main NanoGUI library
diff --git a/src/darwin.mm b/src/darwin.mm
index 96da2d7b4b..1541f12002 100644
--- a/src/darwin.mm
+++ b/src/darwin.mm
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 std::string file_dialog(const std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> &filetypes, bool save) {
     std::string path = "";
     if (save) {
-        NSSavePanel *saveDlg = [[NSSavePanel savePanel] retain];
+        NSSavePanel *saveDlg = [NSSavePanel savePanel];
 
         NSMutableArray *types = [NSMutableArray new];
         for (size_t idx = 0; idx < filetypes.size(); ++idx)
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
         if ([saveDlg runModal] == NSModalResponseOK)
             path = [[[saveDlg URL] path] UTF8String];
     } else {
-        NSOpenPanel *openDlg = [[NSOpenPanel openPanel] retain];
+        NSOpenPanel *openDlg = [NSOpenPanel openPanel];
 
         [openDlg setCanChooseFiles:YES];
         [openDlg setCanChooseDirectories:NO];