diff --git a/include/libcamera/camera_manager.h b/include/libcamera/camera_manager.h
index 079f848a..00658a70 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/camera_manager.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/camera_manager.h
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ namespace libcamera {
 
 class Camera;
 class EventDispatcher;
-
 class CameraManager : public Object
 {
 public:
diff --git a/include/libcamera/internal/ipa_manager.h b/include/libcamera/internal/ipa_manager.h
index 16d74291..43f700d3 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/internal/ipa_manager.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/internal/ipa_manager.h
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ namespace libcamera {
 class IPAManager
 {
 public:
+	IPAManager();
+	~IPAManager();
+
 	static IPAManager *instance();
 
 	std::unique_ptr<IPAProxy> createIPA(PipelineHandler *pipe,
@@ -29,8 +32,7 @@ public:
 					    uint32_t minVersion);
 
 private:
-	IPAManager();
-	~IPAManager();
+	static IPAManager *self_;
 
 	void parseDir(const char *libDir, unsigned int maxDepth,
 		      std::vector<std::string> &files);
diff --git a/src/libcamera/camera_manager.cpp b/src/libcamera/camera_manager.cpp
index 849377ad..da806fa7 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/camera_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/camera_manager.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include "libcamera/internal/device_enumerator.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/event_dispatcher_poll.h"
+#include "libcamera/internal/ipa_manager.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/log.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/thread.h"
@@ -63,6 +64,8 @@ private:
 
 	std::vector<std::shared_ptr<PipelineHandler>> pipes_;
 	std::unique_ptr<DeviceEnumerator> enumerator_;
+
+	IPAManager ipaManager_;
 };
 
 CameraManager::Private::Private(CameraManager *cm)
diff --git a/src/libcamera/ipa_manager.cpp b/src/libcamera/ipa_manager.cpp
index 505cf610..abb681a3 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/ipa_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/ipa_manager.cpp
@@ -93,8 +93,21 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(IPAManager)
  * plain C API, or to transmit the data to the isolated process through IPC.
  */
 
+IPAManager *IPAManager::self_ = nullptr;
+
+/**
+ * \brief Construct an IPAManager instance
+ *
+ * The IPAManager class is meant to only be instantiated once, by the
+ * CameraManager. Pipeline handlers shall use the instance() function to access
+ * the IPAManager instance.
+ */
 IPAManager::IPAManager()
 {
+	if (self_)
+		LOG(IPAManager, Fatal)
+			<< "Multiple IPAManager objects are not allowed";
+
 	unsigned int ipaCount = 0;
 
 	/* User-specified paths take precedence. */
@@ -134,12 +147,16 @@ IPAManager::IPAManager()
 	if (!ipaCount)
 		LOG(IPAManager, Warning)
 			<< "No IPA found in '" IPA_MODULE_DIR "'";
+
+	self_ = this;
 }
 
 IPAManager::~IPAManager()
 {
 	for (IPAModule *module : modules_)
 		delete module;
+
+	self_ = nullptr;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -153,8 +170,7 @@ IPAManager::~IPAManager()
  */
 IPAManager *IPAManager::instance()
 {
-	static IPAManager ipaManager;
-	return &ipaManager;
+	return self_;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/ipa/ipa_interface_test.cpp b/test/ipa/ipa_interface_test.cpp
index 2f02af49..153493ba 100644
--- a/test/ipa/ipa_interface_test.cpp
+++ b/test/ipa/ipa_interface_test.cpp
@@ -39,11 +39,15 @@ public:
 	~IPAInterfaceTest()
 	{
 		delete notifier_;
+		ipa_.reset();
+		ipaManager_.reset();
 	}
 
 protected:
 	int init() override
 	{
+		ipaManager_ = make_unique<IPAManager>();
+
 		/* Create a pipeline handler for vimc. */
 		std::vector<PipelineHandlerFactory *> &factories =
 			PipelineHandlerFactory::factories();
@@ -161,6 +165,7 @@ private:
 
 	std::shared_ptr<PipelineHandler> pipe_;
 	std::unique_ptr<IPAProxy> ipa_;
+	std::unique_ptr<IPAManager> ipaManager_;
 	enum IPAOperationCode trace_;
 	EventNotifier *notifier_;
 	int fd_;