diff --git a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/mod.rs b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/mod.rs
index 39485004cc7..d7052422a3a 100644
--- a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/mod.rs
+++ b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/mod.rs
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for DeviceManager {
 
         // Restore PCI devices
         let pci_ctor_args = PciDevicesConstructorArgs {
-            vm: constructor_args.vm.clone(),
+            vm: constructor_args.vm,
             mem: constructor_args.mem,
             vm_resources: constructor_args.vm_resources,
             instance_id: constructor_args.instance_id,
diff --git a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/pci_mngr.rs b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/pci_mngr.rs
index 8f68a38d3fe..f1ec39ab1d5 100644
--- a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/pci_mngr.rs
+++ b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/pci_mngr.rs
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ pub struct PciDevicesState {
 }
 
 pub struct PciDevicesConstructorArgs<'a> {
-    pub vm: Arc<Vm>,
+    pub vm: &'a Arc<Vm>,
     pub mem: &'a GuestMemoryMmap,
     pub vm_resources: &'a mut VmResources,
     pub instance_id: &'a str,
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
             return Ok(pci_devices);
         }
 
-        pci_devices.attach_pci_segment(&constructor_args.vm)?;
+        pci_devices.attach_pci_segment(constructor_args.vm)?;
 
         if let Some(balloon_state) = &state.balloon_device {
             let device = Arc::new(Mutex::new(
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
 
             pci_devices
                 .restore_pci_device(
-                    &constructor_args.vm,
+                    constructor_args.vm,
                     device,
                     &balloon_state.device_id,
                     &balloon_state.transport_state,
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
 
             pci_devices
                 .restore_pci_device(
-                    &constructor_args.vm,
+                    constructor_args.vm,
                     device,
                     &block_state.device_id,
                     &block_state.transport_state,
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
 
             pci_devices
                 .restore_pci_device(
-                    &constructor_args.vm,
+                    constructor_args.vm,
                     device,
                     &net_state.device_id,
                     &net_state.transport_state,
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
 
             pci_devices
                 .restore_pci_device(
-                    &constructor_args.vm,
+                    constructor_args.vm,
                     device,
                     &vsock_state.device_id,
                     &vsock_state.transport_state,
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for PciDevices {
 
             pci_devices
                 .restore_pci_device(
-                    &constructor_args.vm,
+                    constructor_args.vm,
                     device,
                     &entropy_state.device_id,
                     &entropy_state.transport_state,
@@ -664,7 +664,7 @@ mod tests {
                 .data;
         let vm_resources = &mut VmResources::default();
         let restore_args = PciDevicesConstructorArgs {
-            vm: vmm.vm.clone(),
+            vm: &vmm.vm,
             mem: vmm.vm.guest_memory(),
             vm_resources,
             instance_id: "microvm-id",
diff --git a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/persist.rs b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/persist.rs
index 0e781947206..d6d46fff0f5 100644
--- a/src/vmm/src/device_manager/persist.rs
+++ b/src/vmm/src/device_manager/persist.rs
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ pub enum SharedDeviceType {
 
 pub struct MMIODevManagerConstructorArgs<'a> {
     pub mem: &'a GuestMemoryMmap,
-    pub vm: &'a Vm,
+    pub vm: &'a Arc<Vm>,
     pub event_manager: &'a mut EventManager,
     pub vm_resources: &'a mut VmResources,
     pub instance_id: &'a str,
@@ -364,11 +364,7 @@ impl<'a> Persist<'a> for MMIODeviceManager {
                 }
                 if state.type_ == DeviceType::Rtc {
                     let rtc = Arc::new(Mutex::new(RTCDevice::new()));
-                    dev_manager.register_mmio_rtc(
-                        constructor_args.vm,
-                        rtc,
-                        Some(state.device_info),
-                    )?;
+                    dev_manager.register_mmio_rtc(vm, rtc, Some(state.device_info))?;
                 }
             }
         }