diff --git a/src/isolator/hei_isolation_node.hpp b/src/isolator/hei_isolation_node.hpp
index 90aaeb4..eedde91 100644
--- a/src/isolator/hei_isolation_node.hpp
+++ b/src/isolator/hei_isolation_node.hpp
@@ -181,7 +181,10 @@
     }
 };
 
+/** Pointer management for isolation nodes. */
+using IsolationNodePtr = std::shared_ptr<IsolationNode>;
+
 /** Simple map to ensure only one root IsolationNode per attention type. */
-using RootNodeMap = std::map<AttentionType_t, const IsolationNode*>;
+using RootNodeMap = std::map<AttentionType_t, const IsolationNodePtr>;
 
 } // end namespace libhei