diff --git a/command/agent/rpc.go b/command/agent/rpc.go
index e4d17ff38a..63b7a6bce4 100644
--- a/command/agent/rpc.go
+++ b/command/agent/rpc.go
@@ -60,7 +60,12 @@ const (
 	monitorExists         = "Monitor already exists"
 )
 
-var mh = codec.MsgpackHandle{RawToString: true, WriteExt: true}
+// msgpackHandle is a shared handle for encoding/decoding of
+// messages
+var msgpackHandle = &codec.MsgpackHandle{
+	RawToString: true,
+	WriteExt:    true,
+}
 
 // Request header is sent before each request
 type requestHeader struct {
@@ -251,8 +256,8 @@ func (i *AgentRPC) listen() {
 			reader: bufio.NewReader(conn),
 			writer: bufio.NewWriter(conn),
 		}
-		client.dec = codec.NewDecoder(client.reader, &mh)
-		client.enc = codec.NewEncoder(client.writer, &mh)
+		client.dec = codec.NewDecoder(client.reader, msgpackHandle)
+		client.enc = codec.NewEncoder(client.writer, msgpackHandle)
 		if err != nil {
 			i.logger.Printf("[ERR] agent.rpc: Failed to create decoder: %v", err)
 			conn.Close()
diff --git a/command/agent/rpc_client.go b/command/agent/rpc_client.go
index 2b6d98ca86..e173ea99a6 100644
--- a/command/agent/rpc_client.go
+++ b/command/agent/rpc_client.go
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ func NewRPCClient(addr string) (*RPCClient, error) {
 		dispatch:   make(map[uint64]seqHandler),
 		shutdownCh: make(chan struct{}),
 	}
-	client.dec = codec.NewDecoder(client.reader, &mh)
-	client.enc = codec.NewEncoder(client.writer, &mh)
+	client.dec = codec.NewDecoder(client.reader, msgpackHandle)
+	client.enc = codec.NewEncoder(client.writer, msgpackHandle)
 	go client.listen()
 
 	// Do the initial handshake
diff --git a/consul/fsm.go b/consul/fsm.go
index e26dffa56f..8b4fd3d65a 100644
--- a/consul/fsm.go
+++ b/consul/fsm.go
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ func (c *consulFSM) Restore(old io.ReadCloser) error {
 	c.state = state
 
 	// Create a decoder
-	dec := codec.NewDecoder(old, &mh)
+	dec := codec.NewDecoder(old, msgpackHandle)
 
 	// Read in the header
 	var header snapshotHeader
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ func (c *consulFSM) Restore(old io.ReadCloser) error {
 
 func (s *consulSnapshot) Persist(sink raft.SnapshotSink) error {
 	// Register the nodes
-	encoder := codec.NewEncoder(sink, &mh)
+	encoder := codec.NewEncoder(sink, msgpackHandle)
 
 	// Write the header
 	header := snapshotHeader{
diff --git a/consul/mdb_table_test.go b/consul/mdb_table_test.go
index 11bb10e79e..f67d0cc418 100644
--- a/consul/mdb_table_test.go
+++ b/consul/mdb_table_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type MockData struct {
 
 func MockEncoder(obj interface{}) []byte {
 	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
-	encoder := codec.NewEncoder(buf, &mh)
+	encoder := codec.NewEncoder(buf, msgpackHandle)
 	err := encoder.Encode(obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func MockEncoder(obj interface{}) []byte {
 
 func MockDecoder(buf []byte) interface{} {
 	out := new(MockData)
-	err := codec.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(buf), &mh).Decode(out)
+	err := codec.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(buf), msgpackHandle).Decode(out)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/consul/pool.go b/consul/pool.go
index d6cfb90350..4e95d30145 100644
--- a/consul/pool.go
+++ b/consul/pool.go
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-var mh = codec.MsgpackHandle{}
+// msgpackHandle is a shared handle for encoding/decoding of RPC messages
+var msgpackHandle = &codec.MsgpackHandle{}
 
 // muxSession is used to provide an interface for either muxado or yamux
 type muxSession interface {
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ func (c *Conn) getClient() (*StreamClient, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Create the RPC client
-	cc := codec.GoRpc.ClientCodec(stream, &mh)
+	cc := codec.GoRpc.ClientCodec(stream, msgpackHandle)
 	client := rpc.NewClientWithCodec(cc)
 
 	// Return a new stream client
diff --git a/consul/rpc.go b/consul/rpc.go
index 788f09f839..d2d6459e09 100644
--- a/consul/rpc.go
+++ b/consul/rpc.go
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleMultiplexV2(conn net.Conn) {
 // handleConsulConn is used to service a single Consul RPC connection
 func (s *Server) handleConsulConn(conn net.Conn) {
 	defer conn.Close()
-	rpcCodec := codec.GoRpc.ServerCodec(conn, &mh)
+	rpcCodec := codec.GoRpc.ServerCodec(conn, msgpackHandle)
 	for !s.shutdown {
 		if err := s.rpcServer.ServeRequest(rpcCodec); err != nil {
 			if err != io.EOF && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "closed") {
diff --git a/consul/status_endpoint_test.go b/consul/status_endpoint_test.go
index b5759befe4..15cb2dcfcd 100644
--- a/consul/status_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/consul/status_endpoint_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func rpcClient(t *testing.T, s *Server) *rpc.Client {
 	// Write the Consul RPC byte to set the mode
 	conn.Write([]byte{byte(rpcConsul)})
 
-	cc := codec.GoRpc.ClientCodec(conn, &mh)
+	cc := codec.GoRpc.ClientCodec(conn, msgpackHandle)
 	return rpc.NewClientWithCodec(cc)
 }
 
diff --git a/consul/structs/structs.go b/consul/structs/structs.go
index 9a305eae55..c42250214d 100644
--- a/consul/structs/structs.go
+++ b/consul/structs/structs.go
@@ -395,17 +395,18 @@ type IndexedSessions struct {
 	QueryMeta
 }
 
-var mh = codec.MsgpackHandle{}
+// msgpackHandle is a shared handle for encoding/decoding of structs
+var msgpackHandle = &codec.MsgpackHandle{}
 
 // Decode is used to decode a MsgPack encoded object
 func Decode(buf []byte, out interface{}) error {
-	return codec.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(buf), &mh).Decode(out)
+	return codec.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(buf), msgpackHandle).Decode(out)
 }
 
 // Encode is used to encode a MsgPack object with type prefix
 func Encode(t MessageType, msg interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
 	buf.WriteByte(uint8(t))
-	err := codec.NewEncoder(buf, &mh).Encode(msg)
+	err := codec.NewEncoder(&buf, msgpackHandle).Encode(msg)
 	return buf.Bytes(), err
 }