diff --git a/sycl/plugins/opencl/pi_opencl.cpp b/sycl/plugins/opencl/pi_opencl.cpp
index e259ac5e942cf..57d2e15b96317 100644
--- a/sycl/plugins/opencl/pi_opencl.cpp
+++ b/sycl/plugins/opencl/pi_opencl.cpp
@@ -389,6 +389,7 @@ pi_result piextQueueCreateWithNativeHandle(pi_native_handle nativeHandle,
   (void)ownNativeHandle;
   assert(piQueue != nullptr);
   *piQueue = reinterpret_cast<pi_queue>(nativeHandle);
+  clRetainCommandQueue(cast<cl_command_queue>(nativeHandle));
   return PI_SUCCESS;
 }
 
diff --git a/sycl/source/detail/queue_impl.hpp b/sycl/source/detail/queue_impl.hpp
index 1d4a524e12e8f..e9a201e71a990 100644
--- a/sycl/source/detail/queue_impl.hpp
+++ b/sycl/source/detail/queue_impl.hpp
@@ -129,9 +129,6 @@ class queue_impl {
                                            sizeof(Device), &Device, nullptr);
     MDevice =
         DeviceImplPtr(new device_impl(Device, Context->getPlatformImpl()));
-
-    // TODO catch an exception and put it to list of asynchronous exceptions
-    getPlugin().call<PiApiKind::piQueueRetain>(MQueues[0]);
   }
 
   ~queue_impl() {
diff --git a/sycl/unittests/pi/CMakeLists.txt b/sycl/unittests/pi/CMakeLists.txt
index 53c69f5cae2fa..0d174ac94dbeb 100644
--- a/sycl/unittests/pi/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/sycl/unittests/pi/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ add_sycl_unittest(PiTests OBJECT
   PiMock.cpp
   PlatformTest.cpp
   pi_arguments_handler.cpp
+  piInteropRetain.cpp
 )
 
 add_dependencies(PiTests sycl)
diff --git a/sycl/unittests/pi/piInteropRetain.cpp b/sycl/unittests/pi/piInteropRetain.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d8a56f0f3ad3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sycl/unittests/pi/piInteropRetain.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+//==--------------------- piInteropRetain.cpp -- check proper retain calls -==//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include <CL/opencl.h>
+#include <CL/sycl.hpp>
+#include <CL/sycl/backend/opencl.hpp>
+
+#include <detail/queue_impl.hpp>
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <helpers/PiMock.hpp>
+
+namespace {
+using namespace cl::sycl;
+
+static int QueueRetainCalled = 0;
+pi_result redefinedQueueRetain(pi_queue Queue) {
+  ++QueueRetainCalled;
+  return PI_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+bool preparePiMock(platform &Plt) {
+  if (Plt.is_host()) {
+    std::cout << "Not run on host - no PI events created in that case"
+              << std::endl;
+    return false;
+  }
+  if (detail::getSyclObjImpl(Plt)->getPlugin().getBackend() !=
+      backend::opencl) {
+    std::cout << "Not run on non-OpenCL backend" << std::endl;
+    return false;
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+TEST(PiInteropTest, CheckRetain) {
+  platform Plt{default_selector()};
+  if (!preparePiMock(Plt))
+    return;
+  context Ctx{Plt.get_devices()[0]};
+
+  unittest::PiMock Mock{Plt};
+
+  // The queue construction should not call to piQueueRetain. Instead
+  // piQueueCreate should return the "retained" queue.
+  Mock.redefine<detail::PiApiKind::piQueueRetain>(redefinedQueueRetain);
+  queue Q{Ctx, default_selector()};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(QueueRetainCalled == 0);
+
+  cl_command_queue OCLQ = get_native<backend::opencl>(Q);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(QueueRetainCalled == 1);
+
+  // The make_queue should not call to piQueueRetain. The
+  // piextCreateQueueWithNative handle should do the "retain" if needed.
+  queue Q1 = make_queue<backend::opencl>(OCLQ, Ctx);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(QueueRetainCalled == 1);
+}
+
+} // namespace