diff --git a/src/ArduinoJson/Deserialization/deserialize.hpp b/src/ArduinoJson/Deserialization/deserialize.hpp
index 4c3b2298..5da5df87 100644
--- a/src/ArduinoJson/Deserialization/deserialize.hpp
+++ b/src/ArduinoJson/Deserialization/deserialize.hpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ DeserializationError doDeserialize(TDestination&& dst, TReader reader,
   auto resources = VariantAttorney::getResourceManager(dst);
   dst.clear();
   auto err = TDeserializer<TReader>(resources, reader)
-                 .parse(*data, options.filter, options.nestingLimit);
+                 .parse(data, options.filter, options.nestingLimit);
   shrinkJsonDocument(dst);
   return err;
 }
diff --git a/src/ArduinoJson/Json/JsonDeserializer.hpp b/src/ArduinoJson/Json/JsonDeserializer.hpp
index b70bf4ce..91449229 100644
--- a/src/ArduinoJson/Json/JsonDeserializer.hpp
+++ b/src/ArduinoJson/Json/JsonDeserializer.hpp
@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
         resources_(resources) {}
 
   template <typename TFilter>
-  DeserializationError parse(VariantData& variant, TFilter filter,
+  DeserializationError parse(VariantData* variant, TFilter filter,
                              DeserializationOption::NestingLimit nestingLimit) {
     DeserializationError::Code err;
 
     err = parseVariant(variant, filter, nestingLimit);
 
-    if (!err && latch_.last() != 0 && variant.isFloat()) {
+    if (!err && latch_.last() != 0 && variant->isFloat()) {
       // We don't detect trailing characters earlier, so we need to check now
       return DeserializationError::InvalidInput;
     }
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
 
   template <typename TFilter>
   DeserializationError::Code parseVariant(
-      VariantData& variant, TFilter filter,
+      VariantData* variant, TFilter filter,
       DeserializationOption::NestingLimit nestingLimit) {
     DeserializationError::Code err;
 
@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
     switch (current()) {
       case '[':
         if (filter.allowArray())
-          return parseArray(variant.toArray(resources_), filter, nestingLimit);
+          return parseArray(variant->toArray(resources_), filter, nestingLimit);
         else
           return skipArray(nestingLimit);
 
       case '{':
         if (filter.allowObject())
-          return parseObject(variant.toObject(resources_), filter,
+          return parseObject(variant->toObject(resources_), filter,
                              nestingLimit);
         else
           return skipObject(nestingLimit);
@@ -91,12 +91,12 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
 
       case 't':
         if (filter.allowValue())
-          variant.setBoolean(true);
+          variant->setBoolean(true);
         return skipKeyword("true");
 
       case 'f':
         if (filter.allowValue())
-          variant.setBoolean(false);
+          variant->setBoolean(false);
         return skipKeyword("false");
 
       case 'n':
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
           return DeserializationError::NoMemory;
 
         // 1 - Parse value
-        err = parseVariant(*value, elementFilter, nestingLimit.decrement());
+        err = parseVariant(value, elementFilter, nestingLimit.decrement());
         if (err)
           return err;
       } else {
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
         }
 
         // Parse value
-        err = parseVariant(*member, memberFilter, nestingLimit.decrement());
+        err = parseVariant(member, memberFilter, nestingLimit.decrement());
         if (err)
           return err;
       } else {
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
     }
   }
 
-  DeserializationError::Code parseStringValue(VariantData& variant) {
+  DeserializationError::Code parseStringValue(VariantData* variant) {
     DeserializationError::Code err;
 
     stringBuilder_.startString();
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
     if (err)
       return err;
 
-    stringBuilder_.save(&variant);
+    stringBuilder_.save(variant);
 
     return DeserializationError::Ok;
   }
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
     return DeserializationError::Ok;
   }
 
-  DeserializationError::Code parseNumericValue(VariantData& result) {
+  DeserializationError::Code parseNumericValue(VariantData* result) {
     uint8_t n = 0;
 
     char c = current();
@@ -519,26 +519,26 @@ class JsonDeserializer {
     auto number = parseNumber(buffer_);
     switch (number.type()) {
       case NumberType::UnsignedInteger:
-        if (result.setInteger(number.asUnsignedInteger(), resources_))
+        if (result->setInteger(number.asUnsignedInteger(), resources_))
           return DeserializationError::Ok;
         else
           return DeserializationError::NoMemory;
 
       case NumberType::SignedInteger:
-        if (result.setInteger(number.asSignedInteger(), resources_))
+        if (result->setInteger(number.asSignedInteger(), resources_))
           return DeserializationError::Ok;
         else
           return DeserializationError::NoMemory;
 
       case NumberType::Float:
-        if (result.setFloat(number.asFloat(), resources_))
+        if (result->setFloat(number.asFloat(), resources_))
           return DeserializationError::Ok;
         else
           return DeserializationError::NoMemory;
 
 #if ARDUINOJSON_USE_DOUBLE
       case NumberType::Double:
-        if (result.setFloat(number.asDouble(), resources_))
+        if (result->setFloat(number.asDouble(), resources_))
           return DeserializationError::Ok;
         else
           return DeserializationError::NoMemory;
diff --git a/src/ArduinoJson/MsgPack/MsgPackDeserializer.hpp b/src/ArduinoJson/MsgPack/MsgPackDeserializer.hpp
index ac1e4056..42ec422e 100644
--- a/src/ArduinoJson/MsgPack/MsgPackDeserializer.hpp
+++ b/src/ArduinoJson/MsgPack/MsgPackDeserializer.hpp
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ class MsgPackDeserializer {
         foundSomething_(false) {}
 
   template <typename TFilter>
-  DeserializationError parse(VariantData& variant, TFilter filter,
+  DeserializationError parse(VariantData* variant, TFilter filter,
                              DeserializationOption::NestingLimit nestingLimit) {
     DeserializationError::Code err;
-    err = parseVariant(&variant, filter, nestingLimit);
+    err = parseVariant(variant, filter, nestingLimit);
     return foundSomething_ ? err : DeserializationError::EmptyInput;
   }