diff --git a/src/plugins/cmakeprojectmanager/servermodereader.cpp b/src/plugins/cmakeprojectmanager/servermodereader.cpp
index 4d71947ff22..5a0379227f8 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cmakeprojectmanager/servermodereader.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cmakeprojectmanager/servermodereader.cpp
@@ -727,16 +727,14 @@ ServerModeReader::addCMakeLists(CMakeProjectNode *root, const QList<FileNode *>
             = Utils::transform<QSet>(cmakeLists, [](const Node *n) { return n->filePath().parentDir(); });
     root->addNestedNodes(cmakeLists, Utils::FileName(),
                          [&cmakeDirs, &cmakeListsNodes](const Utils::FileName &fp)
-                         -> ProjectExplorer::FolderNode * {
-        FolderNode *fn = nullptr;
+                         -> std::unique_ptr<ProjectExplorer::FolderNode> {
         if (cmakeDirs.contains(fp)) {
-            CMakeListsNode *n = new CMakeListsNode(fp);
-            cmakeListsNodes.insert(fp, n);
-            fn = n;
-        } else {
-            fn = new FolderNode(fp);
+            auto fn = std::make_unique<CMakeListsNode>(fp);
+            cmakeListsNodes.insert(fp, fn.get());
+            return fn;
         }
-        return fn;
+
+        return std::make_unique<FolderNode>(fp);
     });
     root->compress();
     return cmakeListsNodes;
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.cpp
index c1ae139b101..da0eb991215 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.cpp
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ static FolderNode *recursiveFindOrCreateFolderNode(FolderNode *folder,
             // No FolderNode yet, so create it
             auto tmp = factory(path);
             tmp->setDisplayName(part);
-            parent->addNode(tmp);
-            next = tmp;
+            next = tmp.get();
+            parent->addNode(std::move(tmp));
         }
         parent = next;
     }
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.h b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.h
index 036af4c84e3..6f00ec20f55 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.h
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/projectnodes.h
@@ -221,11 +221,15 @@ public:
     QList<FileNode *> fileNodes() const;
     FileNode *fileNode(const Utils::FileName &file) const;
     QList<FolderNode *> folderNodes() const;
-    using FolderNodeFactory = std::function<FolderNode *(const Utils::FileName &)>;
+    using FolderNodeFactory = std::function<std::unique_ptr<FolderNode>(const Utils::FileName &)>;
     void addNestedNodes(const QList<FileNode *> &files, const Utils::FileName &overrideBaseDir = Utils::FileName(),
-                        const FolderNodeFactory &factory = [](const Utils::FileName &fn) { return new FolderNode(fn); });
+                        const FolderNodeFactory &factory = [](const Utils::FileName &fn) {
+        return std::make_unique<FolderNode>(fn);
+    });
     void addNestedNode(FileNode *fileNode, const Utils::FileName &overrideBaseDir = Utils::FileName(),
-                       const FolderNodeFactory &factory = [](const Utils::FileName &fn) { return new FolderNode(fn); });
+                       const FolderNodeFactory &factory = [](const Utils::FileName &fn) {
+        return std::make_unique<FolderNode>(fn);
+    });
     void compress();
 
     bool isAncesterOf(Node *n);