diff --git a/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp b/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
index b9b68fc10f06f..e6d80f06a3c1d 100644
--- a/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
@@ -1319,7 +1319,7 @@ UniValue invalidateblock(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
     }
 
     if (state.IsValid()) {
-        ActivateBestChain(state, Params(), NULL);
+        ActivateBestChain(state, Params());
     }
 
     if (!state.IsValid()) {
@@ -1357,7 +1357,7 @@ UniValue reconsiderblock(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
     }
 
     CValidationState state;
-    ActivateBestChain(state, Params(), NULL);
+    ActivateBestChain(state, Params());
 
     if (!state.IsValid()) {
         throw JSONRPCError(RPC_DATABASE_ERROR, state.GetRejectReason());
diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index 3a9ad4a28fe61..bd66c5679bef7 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -2288,7 +2288,7 @@ static void PruneBlockIndexCandidates() {
  * Try to make some progress towards making pindexMostWork the active block.
  * pblock is either NULL or a pointer to a CBlock corresponding to pindexMostWork.
  */
-static bool ActivateBestChainStep(CValidationState& state, const CChainParams& chainparams, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const CBlock* pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, ConnectTrace& connectTrace)
+static bool ActivateBestChainStep(CValidationState& state, const CChainParams& chainparams, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>& pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, ConnectTrace& connectTrace)
 {
     AssertLockHeld(cs_main);
     const CBlockIndex *pindexOldTip = chainActive.Tip();
@@ -2321,8 +2321,7 @@ static bool ActivateBestChainStep(CValidationState& state, const CChainParams& c
 
         // Connect new blocks.
         BOOST_REVERSE_FOREACH(CBlockIndex *pindexConnect, vpindexToConnect) {
-            //TODO: The pblock copy is a major performance regression, but callers need updated to fix this
-            if (!ConnectTip(state, chainparams, pindexConnect, (pblock && pindexConnect == pindexMostWork) ? std::make_shared<const CBlock>(*pblock) : std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>(), connectTrace)) {
+            if (!ConnectTip(state, chainparams, pindexConnect, pindexConnect == pindexMostWork ? pblock : std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>(), connectTrace)) {
                 if (state.IsInvalid()) {
                     // The block violates a consensus rule.
                     if (!state.CorruptionPossible())
@@ -2389,7 +2388,7 @@ static void NotifyHeaderTip() {
  * or an activated best chain. pblock is either NULL or a pointer to a block
  * that is already loaded (to avoid loading it again from disk).
  */
-bool ActivateBestChain(CValidationState &state, const CChainParams& chainparams, const CBlock *pblock) {
+bool ActivateBestChain(CValidationState &state, const CChainParams& chainparams, std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> pblock) {
     CBlockIndex *pindexMostWork = NULL;
     CBlockIndex *pindexNewTip = NULL;
     do {
@@ -2412,7 +2411,8 @@ bool ActivateBestChain(CValidationState &state, const CChainParams& chainparams,
                 return true;
 
             bool fInvalidFound = false;
-            if (!ActivateBestChainStep(state, chainparams, pindexMostWork, pblock && pblock->GetHash() == pindexMostWork->GetBlockHash() ? pblock : NULL, fInvalidFound, connectTrace))
+            std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> nullBlockPtr;
+            if (!ActivateBestChainStep(state, chainparams, pindexMostWork, pblock && pblock->GetHash() == pindexMostWork->GetBlockHash() ? pblock : nullBlockPtr, fInvalidFound, connectTrace))
                 return false;
 
             if (fInvalidFound) {
@@ -3142,8 +3142,13 @@ bool ProcessNewBlock(const CChainParams& chainparams, const CBlock* pblock, bool
 
     NotifyHeaderTip();
 
+    //TODO: This copy is a major performance regression, but callers need updated to fix this
+    std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> block_ptr;
+    if (pblock)
+        block_ptr.reset(new CBlock(*pblock));
+
     CValidationState state; // Only used to report errors, not invalidity - ignore it
-    if (!ActivateBestChain(state, chainparams, pblock))
+    if (!ActivateBestChain(state, chainparams, block_ptr))
         return error("%s: ActivateBestChain failed", __func__);
 
     return true;
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index a798cf37022e8..2d055d1900166 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ std::string GetWarnings(const std::string& strFor);
 /** Retrieve a transaction (from memory pool, or from disk, if possible) */
 bool GetTransaction(const uint256 &hash, CTransaction &tx, const Consensus::Params& params, uint256 &hashBlock, bool fAllowSlow = false);
 /** Find the best known block, and make it the tip of the block chain */
-bool ActivateBestChain(CValidationState& state, const CChainParams& chainparams, const CBlock* pblock = NULL);
+bool ActivateBestChain(CValidationState& state, const CChainParams& chainparams, std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> pblock = std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>());
 CAmount GetBlockSubsidy(int nHeight, const Consensus::Params& consensusParams);
 
 /**