diff --git a/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.cc b/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.cc
index 2ab85fcbe4..53e09a489b 100644
--- a/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.cc
+++ b/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.cc
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
 
 #include <limits>
 
-ItemFreqDecayerTask::ItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine* e,
+ItemFreqDecayerTask::ItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine& e,
                                          uint16_t percentage_)
-    : GlobalTask(e, TaskId::ItemFreqDecayerTask, 0, false),
+    : GlobalTask(&e, TaskId::ItemFreqDecayerTask, 0, false),
       completed(false),
       epstore_position(engine->getKVBucket()->startPosition()),
       notified(false),
diff --git a/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.h b/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.h
index e507de1346..85cbb6499b 100644
--- a/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.h
+++ b/engines/ep/src/item_freq_decayer.h
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class PauseResumeVBAdapter;
  */
 class ItemFreqDecayerTask : public GlobalTask {
 public:
-    ItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine* e, uint16_t percentage_);
+    ItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine& e, uint16_t percentage_);
 
     ~ItemFreqDecayerTask() override;
 
diff --git a/engines/ep/src/kv_bucket.cc b/engines/ep/src/kv_bucket.cc
index 3f0e9e93da..1c48ea3cf7 100644
--- a/engines/ep/src/kv_bucket.cc
+++ b/engines/ep/src/kv_bucket.cc
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ bool KVBucket::initialize() {
      * item in the hash table becomes saturated.
      */
     itemFreqDecayerTask = std::make_shared<ItemFreqDecayerTask>(
-            &engine, config.getItemFreqDecayerPercent());
+            engine, config.getItemFreqDecayerPercent());
     ExecutorPool::get()->schedule(itemFreqDecayerTask);
 
     createAndScheduleSeqnoPersistenceNotifier();
diff --git a/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_ep_bucket.cc b/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_ep_bucket.cc
index 8a0ca88fa0..1fa248b43b 100644
--- a/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_ep_bucket.cc
+++ b/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_ep_bucket.cc
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void MockEPBucket::removeMakeCompactionContextCallback() {
 void MockEPBucket::createItemFreqDecayerTask() {
     Configuration& config = engine.getConfiguration();
     itemFreqDecayerTask = std::make_shared<MockItemFreqDecayerTask>(
-            &engine, config.getItemFreqDecayerPercent());
+            engine, config.getItemFreqDecayerPercent());
 }
 
 void MockEPBucket::disableItemFreqDecayerTask() {
diff --git a/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_item_freq_decayer.h b/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_item_freq_decayer.h
index c9edea193a..6f844241e9 100644
--- a/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_item_freq_decayer.h
+++ b/engines/ep/tests/mock/mock_item_freq_decayer.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  */
 class MockItemFreqDecayerTask : public ItemFreqDecayerTask {
 public:
-    MockItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine* e, uint16_t percentage_)
+    MockItemFreqDecayerTask(EventuallyPersistentEngine& e, uint16_t percentage_)
         : ItemFreqDecayerTask(e, percentage_) {
     }
 
diff --git a/engines/ep/tests/module_tests/ep_bucket_tests.cc b/engines/ep/tests/module_tests/ep_bucket_tests.cc
index fd9b638ece..e563496bf2 100644
--- a/engines/ep/tests/module_tests/ep_bucket_tests.cc
+++ b/engines/ep/tests/module_tests/ep_bucket_tests.cc
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ TEST_F(SingleThreadedEPBucketTest, ItemFreqDecayerTaskTest) {
 
     auto& lpNonioQ = *task_executor->getLpTaskQ()[NONIO_TASK_IDX];
     auto itemFreqDecayerTask =
-            std::make_shared<MockItemFreqDecayerTask>(engine.get(), 50);
+            std::make_shared<MockItemFreqDecayerTask>(*engine, 50);
 
     EXPECT_EQ(0, lpNonioQ.getFutureQueueSize());
     task_executor->schedule(itemFreqDecayerTask);