diff --git a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2framefactory.cpp b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2framefactory.cpp
index b6bc34a5..da9c8018 100644
--- a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2framefactory.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2framefactory.cpp
@@ -73,9 +73,8 @@ FrameFactory *FrameFactory::factory = 0;
 
 FrameFactory *FrameFactory::instance()
 {
-  if(!factory)
-    factory = new FrameFactory;
-  return factory;
+  static FrameFactory factory;
+  return &factory;
 }
 
 Frame *FrameFactory::createFrame(const ByteVector &data, bool synchSafeInts) const