diff --git a/src/lib/bench/benchmark.h b/src/lib/bench/benchmark.h
index 22ae7e70c7..7f77aa19ec 100644
--- a/src/lib/bench/benchmark.h
+++ b/src/lib/bench/benchmark.h
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
-#include <cassert>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <ios>
 
@@ -211,9 +210,9 @@ public:
     /// \param target The templated class object that
     /// implements the code to be benchmarked.
     BenchMark(const int iterations, T target) :
-        iterations_(iterations), sub_iterations_(0)
+        iterations_(iterations), sub_iterations_(0), target_(target)
     {
-        initialize(target, true);
+        initialize(true);
     }
 
     /// \brief Constructor for finer-grained control.
@@ -231,9 +230,9 @@ public:
     /// \param immediate If \c true the benchmark will be performed within
     /// the constructor; otherwise it only does initialization.
     BenchMark(const int iterations, T& target, const bool immediate) :
-        iterations_(iterations), sub_iterations_(0), target_(&target)
+        iterations_(iterations), sub_iterations_(0), target_(target)
     {
-        initialize(target, immediate);
+        initialize(immediate);
     }
     //@}
 
@@ -242,14 +241,14 @@ public:
     /// This method will be called from \c run() before starting the benchmark.
     /// By default it's empty, but can be customized via template
     /// specialization.
-    void setUp(T&) {}
+    void setUp() {}
 
     /// \brief Hook to be called after benchmark.
     ///
     /// This method will be called from \c run() when the benchmark completes.
     /// By default it's empty, but can be customized via template
     /// specialization.
-    void tearDown(T&) {}
+    void tearDown() {}
 
     /// \brief Perform benchmark.
     ///
@@ -258,8 +257,17 @@ public:
     /// of times specified on construction, and records the time on completion.
     /// Finally, it calls \c tearDown().
     void run() {
-        assert(target_ != NULL);
-        run(*target_);
+        setUp();
+
+        struct timeval beg, end;
+        gettimeofday(&beg, NULL);
+        for (unsigned int i = 0; i < iterations_; ++i) {
+            sub_iterations_ += target_.run();
+        }
+        gettimeofday(&end, NULL);
+        tv_diff_ = tv_subtract(end, beg);
+
+        tearDown();
     }
 
     /// \brief Print the benchmark result.
@@ -353,23 +361,9 @@ public:
     /// performed implicitly.
     static const int ITERATION_FAILURE = -1;
 private:
-    void run(T& target) {
-        setUp(target);
-
-        struct timeval beg, end;
-        gettimeofday(&beg, NULL);
-        for (unsigned int i = 0; i < iterations_; ++i) {
-            sub_iterations_ += target.run();
-        }
-        gettimeofday(&end, NULL);
-        tv_diff_ = tv_subtract(end, beg);
-
-        tearDown(target);
-    }
-
-    void initialize(T& target, const bool immediate) {
+    void initialize(const bool immediate) {
         if (immediate) {
-            run(target);
+            run();
             printResult();
         }
     }
@@ -394,7 +388,7 @@ private:
     static const int ONE_MILLION = 1000000;
     const unsigned int iterations_;
     unsigned int sub_iterations_;
-    T* target_;
+    T& target_;
     struct timeval tv_diff_;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/lib/bench/example/search_bench.cc b/src/lib/bench/example/search_bench.cc
index 84f95d953b..851d815e88 100644
--- a/src/lib/bench/example/search_bench.cc
+++ b/src/lib/bench/example/search_bench.cc
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ namespace isc {
 namespace bench {
 template<>
 void
-BenchMark<SetSearchBenchMark>::setUp(SetSearchBenchMark& target) {
+BenchMark<SetSearchBenchMark>::setUp() {
     cout << "Benchmark for searching std::set (size="
-         << target.data_.size() << ")" << endl;
+         << target_.data_.size() << ")" << endl;    
 }
 }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/bench/tests/benchmark_unittest.cc b/src/lib/bench/tests/benchmark_unittest.cc
index dfe7df9c75..9b476cdffc 100644
--- a/src/lib/bench/tests/benchmark_unittest.cc
+++ b/src/lib/bench/tests/benchmark_unittest.cc
@@ -46,14 +46,14 @@ namespace isc {
 namespace bench {
 template <>
 void
-BenchMark<TestBenchMark>::setUp(TestBenchMark& target) {
-    target.setup_completed_ = true;
+BenchMark<TestBenchMark>::setUp() {
+    target_.setup_completed_ = true;
 };
 
 template <>
 void
-BenchMark<TestBenchMark>::tearDown(TestBenchMark& target) {
-    target.teardown_completed_ = true;
+BenchMark<TestBenchMark>::tearDown() {
+    target_.teardown_completed_ = true;
 };
 
 // XXX: some compilers cannot find class static constants used in