diff --git a/include/osquery/database/db_handle.h b/include/osquery/database/db_handle.h
index 629bfba0..f7c309ee 100644
--- a/include/osquery/database/db_handle.h
+++ b/include/osquery/database/db_handle.h
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class DBHandle {
    * @return an instance of osquery::Status which indicates the success or
    * failure of connecting to RocksDB
    */
-  osquery::Status getStatus();
+  Status getStatus();
 
   /**
    * @brief Helper method which can be used to get a raw pointer to the
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ class DBHandle {
    * @return an instance of osquery::Status indicating the success or failure
    * of the operation.
    */
-  osquery::Status Get(const std::string& domain,
-                      const std::string& key,
-                      std::string& value);
+  Status Get(const std::string& domain,
+             const std::string& key,
+             std::string& value);
 
   /**
    * @brief Put data into the database
@@ -127,9 +127,9 @@ class DBHandle {
    * @return an instance of osquery::Status indicating the success or failure
    * of the operation.
    */
-  osquery::Status Put(const std::string& domain,
-                      const std::string& key,
-                      const std::string& value);
+  Status Put(const std::string& domain,
+             const std::string& key,
+             const std::string& value);
 
   /**
    * @brief Delete data from the database
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ class DBHandle {
    * @return an instance of osquery::Status indicating the success or failure
    * of the operation.
    */
-  osquery::Status Delete(const std::string& domain, const std::string& key);
+  Status Delete(const std::string& domain, const std::string& key);
 
   /**
    * @brief List the data in a "domain"
@@ -154,8 +154,7 @@ class DBHandle {
    * @return an instance of osquery::Status indicating the success or failure
    * of the operation.
    */
-  osquery::Status Scan(const std::string& domain,
-                       std::vector<std::string>& results);
+  Status Scan(const std::string& domain, std::vector<std::string>& results);
 
  private:
   /**
diff --git a/include/osquery/dispatcher.h b/include/osquery/dispatcher.h
index 0cf794a6..90f6d4e4 100644
--- a/include/osquery/dispatcher.h
+++ b/include/osquery/dispatcher.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class Dispatcher {
    *
    * @return a shared pointer to an instance of osquery::Dispatch.
    */
-  static std::shared_ptr<Dispatcher> getInstance();
+  static Dispatcher& getInstance();
 
   /**
    * @brief add a task to the dispatcher.
diff --git a/include/osquery/events.h b/include/osquery/events.h
index 06a01833..334f4c47 100644
--- a/include/osquery/events.h
+++ b/include/osquery/events.h
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ class EventModule {
 class EventFactory {
  public:
   /// Access to the EventFactory instance.
-  static std::shared_ptr<EventFactory> getInstance();
+  static EventFactory& getInstance();
 
   /**
    * @brief Add an EventType to the factory.
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ class EventFactory {
 
   /// Get the number of EventTypes.
   static size_t numEventTypes() {
-    return EventFactory::getInstance()->event_types_.size();
+    return EventFactory::getInstance().event_types_.size();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -591,6 +591,8 @@ class EventFactory {
 
  private:
   EventFactory() { ending_ = false; }
+  EventFactory(EventFactory const&);
+  void operator=(EventFactory const&);
 
  private:
   /// Set ending to True to cause event type run loops to finish.
diff --git a/osquery/database/db_handle_tests.cpp b/osquery/database/db_handle_tests.cpp
index 86ef0073..ab5ca810 100644
--- a/osquery/database/db_handle_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/database/db_handle_tests.cpp
@@ -11,20 +11,19 @@
 
 using osquery::Status;
 
+const std::string kTestingDBHandlePath = "/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-dbhandletests";
+
 namespace osquery {
 
 class DBHandleTests : public testing::Test {
+ public:
   void SetUp() {
     // Setup a testing DB instance
-    db = DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-dbhandletests");
+    db = DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath(kTestingDBHandlePath);
     cfh_queries = DBHandle::getInstance()->getHandleForColumnFamily(kQueries);
     cfh_foobar =
         DBHandle::getInstance()->getHandleForColumnFamily("foobartest");
   }
-  void TearDown() {
-    boost::filesystem::remove_all("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-dbhandletests");
-  }
-
  public:
   rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle* cfh_queries;
   rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle* cfh_foobar;
@@ -94,5 +93,7 @@ TEST_F(DBHandleTests, test_scan) {
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
   google::InitGoogleLogging(argv[0]);
-  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  int status = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  boost::filesystem::remove_all(kTestingDBHandlePath);
+  return status;
 }
diff --git a/osquery/database/query_tests.cpp b/osquery/database/query_tests.cpp
index 5722f483..f5b2ce6c 100644
--- a/osquery/database/query_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/database/query_tests.cpp
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@
 
 using namespace osquery::core;
 
+const std::string kTestingQueryDBPath = "/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-querytests";
+
 namespace osquery {
 
 class QueryTests : public testing::Test {
+ public:
   void SetUp() {
-    db = DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-querytests");
-  }
-  void TearDown() {
-    boost::filesystem::remove_all("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-querytests");
+    db = DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath(kTestingQueryDBPath);
   }
 
  public:
@@ -137,5 +137,7 @@ TEST_F(QueryTests, test_get_current_results) {
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
-  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  int status = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  boost::filesystem::remove_all(kTestingQueryDBPath);
+  return status;
 }
diff --git a/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher.cpp b/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher.cpp
index 99ce8cb5..264d0dfc 100644
--- a/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher.cpp
+++ b/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher.cpp
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@ DEFINE_int32(worker_threads,
              kDefaultThreadPoolSize,
              "The number of threads to use for the work dispatcher");
 
-std::shared_ptr<Dispatcher> Dispatcher::getInstance() {
-  static std::shared_ptr<Dispatcher> q =
-      std::shared_ptr<Dispatcher>(new Dispatcher());
-  return q;
+Dispatcher& Dispatcher::getInstance() {
+  static Dispatcher d;
+  return d;
 }
 
 Dispatcher::Dispatcher() {
diff --git a/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher_tests.cpp b/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher_tests.cpp
index bfa05484..ff2df7a0 100644
--- a/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/dispatcher/dispatcher_tests.cpp
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ namespace osquery {
 class DispatcherTests : public testing::Test {};
 
 TEST_F(DispatcherTests, test_singleton) {
-  auto one = Dispatcher::getInstance();
-  auto two = Dispatcher::getInstance();
-  EXPECT_EQ(one->getThreadManager().get(), two->getThreadManager().get());
+  auto& one = Dispatcher::getInstance();
+  auto& two = Dispatcher::getInstance();
+  EXPECT_EQ(one.getThreadManager().get(), two.getThreadManager().get());
 }
 
 class TestRunnable : public apache::thrift::concurrency::Runnable {
@@ -22,15 +22,15 @@ class TestRunnable : public apache::thrift::concurrency::Runnable {
 };
 
 TEST_F(DispatcherTests, test_add_work) {
-  auto d = Dispatcher::getInstance();
+  auto& dispatcher = Dispatcher::getInstance();
   int base = 5;
   int repetitions = 1;
 
   int i = base;
   for (int c = 0; c < repetitions; ++c) {
-    d->add(std::make_shared<TestRunnable>(&i));
+    dispatcher.add(std::make_shared<TestRunnable>(&i));
   }
-  while (d->totalTaskCount() > 0) {
+  while (dispatcher.totalTaskCount() > 0) {
   }
 
   EXPECT_EQ(i, base + repetitions);
diff --git a/osquery/events/events.cpp b/osquery/events/events.cpp
index 706c9d21..f5ca427e 100644
--- a/osquery/events/events.cpp
+++ b/osquery/events/events.cpp
@@ -238,11 +238,11 @@ Status EventModule::add(const Row& r, EventTime time) {
 }
 
 void EventFactory::delay() {
-  auto ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  for (const auto& eventtype : EventFactory::getInstance()->event_types_) {
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  for (const auto& eventtype : EventFactory::getInstance().event_types_) {
     auto thread_ = std::make_shared<boost::thread>(
         boost::bind(&EventFactory::run, eventtype.first));
-    ef->threads_.push_back(thread_);
+    ef.threads_.push_back(thread_);
   }
 }
 
@@ -252,13 +252,13 @@ Status EventFactory::run(EventTypeID type_id) {
   // Assume it can either make use of an entrypoint poller/selector or
   // take care of async callback registrations in setUp/configure/run
   // only once and handle event queueing/firing in callbacks.
-  auto event_type = EventFactory::getInstance()->getEventType(type_id);
+  auto event_type = EventFactory::getInstance().getEventType(type_id);
   if (event_type == nullptr) {
     return Status(1, "No Event Type");
   }
 
   Status status = Status(0, "OK");
-  while (!EventFactory::getInstance()->ending_ && status.ok()) {
+  while (!EventFactory::getInstance().ending_ && status.ok()) {
     // Can optionally implement a global cooloff latency here.
     status = event_type->run();
   }
@@ -268,41 +268,41 @@ Status EventFactory::run(EventTypeID type_id) {
 }
 
 void EventFactory::end(bool should_end) {
-  EventFactory::getInstance()->ending_ = should_end;
+  EventFactory::getInstance().ending_ = should_end;
   // Join on the thread group.
   ::usleep(400);
 }
 
 // There's no reason for the event factory to keep multiple instances.
-std::shared_ptr<EventFactory> EventFactory::getInstance() {
-  static auto q = std::shared_ptr<EventFactory>(new EventFactory());
-  return q;
+EventFactory& EventFactory::getInstance() {
+  static EventFactory ef;
+  return ef;
 }
 
 Status EventFactory::registerEventType(const EventTypeRef event_type) {
-  EventTypeID type_id = event_type->type();
-  auto ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  auto type_id = event_type->type();
 
-  if (ef->getEventType(type_id) != nullptr) {
+  if (ef.getEventType(type_id) != nullptr) {
     // This is a duplicate type id?
     return Status(1, "Duplicate Event Type");
   }
 
-  ef->event_types_[type_id] = event_type;
+  ef.event_types_[type_id] = event_type;
   event_type->setUp();
   return Status(0, "OK");
 }
 
 Status EventFactory::registerEventModule(const EventModuleRef event_module) {
-  auto ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
   // Let the module initialize any Monitors.
   event_module->init();
-  ef->event_modules_.push_back(event_module);
+  ef.event_modules_.push_back(event_module);
   return Status(0, "OK");
 }
 
 Status EventFactory::addMonitor(EventTypeID type_id, const MonitorRef monitor) {
-  auto event_type = EventFactory::getInstance()->getEventType(type_id);
+  auto event_type = EventFactory::getInstance().getEventType(type_id);
   if (event_type == nullptr) {
     // Cannot create a Monitor for a missing type_id.
     return Status(1, "No Event Type");
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ Status EventFactory::addMonitor(EventTypeID type_id,
 }
 
 size_t EventFactory::numMonitors(EventTypeID type_id) {
-  const auto& event_type = EventFactory::getInstance()->getEventType(type_id);
+  const auto& event_type = EventFactory::getInstance().getEventType(type_id);
   if (event_type != nullptr) {
     return event_type->numMonitors();
   }
@@ -330,10 +330,10 @@ size_t EventFactory::numMonitors(EventTypeID type_id) {
 }
 
 std::shared_ptr<EventType> EventFactory::getEventType(EventTypeID type_id) {
-  const auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  const auto& it = ef->event_types_.find(type_id);
-  if (it != ef->event_types_.end()) {
-    return ef->event_types_[type_id];
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  const auto& it = ef.event_types_.find(type_id);
+  if (it != ef.event_types_.end()) {
+    return ef.event_types_[type_id];
   }
   return nullptr;
 }
@@ -343,25 +343,25 @@ Status EventFactory::deregisterEventType(const EventTypeRef event_type) {
 }
 
 Status EventFactory::deregisterEventType(EventTypeID type_id) {
-  auto ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  const auto& it = ef->event_types_.find(type_id);
-  if (it == ef->event_types_.end()) {
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  const auto& it = ef.event_types_.find(type_id);
+  if (it == ef.event_types_.end()) {
     return Status(1, "No Event Type registered");
   }
 
-  ef->event_types_[type_id]->tearDown();
-  ef->event_types_.erase(it);
+  ef.event_types_[type_id]->tearDown();
+  ef.event_types_.erase(it);
   return Status(0, "OK");
 }
 
 Status EventFactory::deregisterEventTypes() {
-  auto ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  auto it = ef->event_types_.begin();
-  for (; it != ef->event_types_.end(); it++) {
+  auto& ef = EventFactory::getInstance();
+  auto it = ef.event_types_.begin();
+  for (; it != ef.event_types_.end(); it++) {
     it->second->tearDown();
   }
 
-  ef->event_types_.erase(ef->event_types_.begin(), ef->event_types_.end());
+  ef.event_types_.erase(ef.event_types_.begin(), ef.event_types_.end());
   return Status(0, "OK");
 }
 }
@@ -369,13 +369,13 @@ Status EventFactory::deregisterEventTypes() {
 namespace osquery {
 namespace registries {
 void faucet(EventTypes ets, EventModules ems) {
-  auto ef = osquery::EventFactory::getInstance();
+  auto& ef = osquery::EventFactory::getInstance();
   for (const auto& event_type : ets) {
-    ef->registerEventType(event_type.second);
+    ef.registerEventType(event_type.second);
   }
 
   for (const auto& event_module : ems) {
-    ef->registerEventModule(event_module.second);
+    ef.registerEventModule(event_module.second);
   }
 }
 }
diff --git a/osquery/events/events_database_tests.cpp b/osquery/events/events_database_tests.cpp
index d475d5dc..ff56c3c5 100644
--- a/osquery/events/events_database_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/events/events_database_tests.cpp
@@ -7,16 +7,15 @@
 #include "osquery/events.h"
 #include "osquery/core/test_util.h"
 
+const std::string kTestingEventsDBPath = "/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-testevents";
+
 namespace osquery {
 
 class EventsDatabaseTests : public ::testing::Test {
  public:
   void SetUp() {
     // Setup a testing DB instance
-    DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-testevents");
-  }
-  void TearDown() {
-    boost::filesystem::remove_all("/tmp/rocksdb-osquery-testevents");
+    DBHandle::getInstanceAtPath(kTestingEventsDBPath);
   }
 };
 
@@ -71,5 +70,7 @@ TEST_F(EventsDatabaseTests, test_event_add) {
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
-  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  int status = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  boost::filesystem::remove_all(kTestingEventsDBPath);
+  return status;
 }
diff --git a/osquery/events/events_tests.cpp b/osquery/events/events_tests.cpp
index 7396148b..9ee1f7f3 100644
--- a/osquery/events/events_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/events/events_tests.cpp
@@ -1,26 +1,16 @@
 // Copyright 2004-present Facebook. All Rights Reserved.
 
-#include <gtest/gtest.h>
-
 #include "osquery/events.h"
 
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
 namespace osquery {
 
 class EventsTests : public testing::Test {
- protected:
-  virtual void SetUp() { ef = EventFactory::getInstance(); }
-
-  virtual void TearDown() { ef->deregisterEventTypes(); }
-
-  std::shared_ptr<EventFactory> ef;
+ public:
+  void TearDown() { EventFactory::deregisterEventTypes(); }
 };
 
-TEST_F(EventsTests, test_singleton) {
-  auto one = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  auto two = EventFactory::getInstance();
-  EXPECT_EQ(one, two);
-}
-
 class BasicEventType : public EventType {
   DECLARE_EVENTTYPE(BasicEventType, MonitorContext, EventContext);
 };
diff --git a/osquery/events/linux/inotify_tests.cpp b/osquery/events/linux/inotify_tests.cpp
index d03e67c4..c8349431 100644
--- a/osquery/events/linux/inotify_tests.cpp
+++ b/osquery/events/linux/inotify_tests.cpp
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ const std::string kRealTestPath = "/tmp/osquery-inotify-trigger";
 
 class INotifyTests : public testing::Test {
  protected:
-  virtual void SetUp() { ef = EventFactory::getInstance(); }
-
   virtual void TearDown() { EventFactory::deregisterEventTypes(); }
 
   void StartEventLoop() {
@@ -43,7 +41,6 @@ class INotifyTests : public testing::Test {
   }
 
   boost::thread temp_thread_;
-  std::shared_ptr<EventFactory> ef;
 };
 
 // Helper eager wait function.