diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index 0f3fd81470..754044530e 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -2828,7 +2828,7 @@ Val* IndexExpr::Fold(Val* v1, Val* v2) const
 
 void IndexExpr::Assign(Frame* f, Val* arg_v)
 	{
-	IntrusivePtr v{arg_v, false};
+	IntrusivePtr v{AdoptRef{}, arg_v};
 
 	if ( IsError() )
 		return;
@@ -2849,7 +2849,7 @@ void IndexExpr::Assign(Frame* f, Val* arg_v)
 	// Hold an extra reference to 'arg_v' in case the ownership transfer to
 	// the table/vector goes wrong and we still want to obtain diagnostic info
 	// from the original value after the assignment already unref'd.
-	IntrusivePtr v_extra{arg_v, true};
+	IntrusivePtr v_extra{NewRef{}, arg_v};
 
 	switch ( v1->Type()->Tag() ) {
 	case TYPE_VECTOR:
diff --git a/src/IntrusivePtr.h b/src/IntrusivePtr.h
index 3550b1fc46..767aae197c 100644
--- a/src/IntrusivePtr.h
+++ b/src/IntrusivePtr.h
@@ -5,6 +5,18 @@
 #include <type_traits>
 #include <utility>
 
+/**
+ * A tag class for the #IntrusivePtr constructor which means: adopt
+ * the reference from the caller.
+ */
+struct AdoptRef {};
+
+/**
+ * A tag class for the #IntrusivePtr constructor which means: create a
+ * new reference to the object.
+ */
+struct NewRef {};
+
 /**
  * An intrusive, reference counting smart pointer implementation. Much like
  * @c std::shared_ptr, this smart pointer models shared ownership of an object
@@ -54,13 +66,27 @@ public:
 	/**
 	 * Constructs a new intrusive pointer for managing the lifetime of the object
 	 * pointed to by @c raw_ptr.
+	 *
+	 * This overload adopts the existing reference from the caller.
+	 *
 	 * @param raw_ptr Pointer to the shared object.
-	 * @param add_ref Denotes whether the reference count of the object shall be
-	 *                increased during construction.
 	 */
-	IntrusivePtr(pointer raw_ptr, bool add_ref) noexcept
+	IntrusivePtr(AdoptRef, pointer raw_ptr) noexcept
 		{
-		setPtr(raw_ptr, add_ref);
+		setPtr(raw_ptr, false);
+		}
+
+	/**
+	 * Constructs a new intrusive pointer for managing the lifetime of the object
+	 * pointed to by @c raw_ptr.
+	 *
+	 * This overload adds a new reference.
+	 *
+	 * @param raw_ptr Pointer to the shared object.
+	 */
+	IntrusivePtr(NewRef, pointer raw_ptr) noexcept
+		{
+		setPtr(raw_ptr, true);
 		}
 
 	IntrusivePtr(IntrusivePtr&& other) noexcept : ptr_(other.release())
@@ -69,8 +95,8 @@ public:
 		}
 
 	IntrusivePtr(const IntrusivePtr& other) noexcept
+		: IntrusivePtr(NewRef{}, other.get())
 		{
-		setPtr(other.get(), true);
 		}
 
 	template <class U, class = std::enable_if_t<std::is_convertible_v<U*, T*>>>
@@ -157,7 +183,7 @@ template <class T, class... Ts>
 IntrusivePtr<T> make_intrusive(Ts&&... args)
 	{
 	// Assumes that objects start with a reference count of 1!
-	return {new T(std::forward<Ts>(args)...), false};
+	return {AdoptRef{}, new T(std::forward<Ts>(args)...)};
 	}
 
 // -- comparison to nullptr ----------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/Stmt.cc b/src/Stmt.cc
index 539ab8a0a5..15400632d7 100644
--- a/src/Stmt.cc
+++ b/src/Stmt.cc
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ static IntrusivePtr<EnumVal> lookup_enum_val(const char* module_name, const char
 
 	int index = et->Lookup(module_name, name);
 	assert(index >= 0);
-	IntrusivePtr<EnumVal> rval{et->GetVal(index), false};
+	IntrusivePtr<EnumVal> rval{AdoptRef{}, et->GetVal(index)};
 
 	return rval;
 	}
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index 4b065c99a2..1c11070d0c 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -1984,7 +1984,7 @@ void TableVal::CallChangeFunc(const Val* index, Val* old_value, OnChangeType tpe
 
 	try
 		{
-		IntrusivePtr<Val> thefunc{change_func->Eval(nullptr), false};
+		IntrusivePtr<Val> thefunc{AdoptRef{}, change_func->Eval(nullptr)};
 
 		if ( ! thefunc )
 			{
diff --git a/src/broker/Data.cc b/src/broker/Data.cc
index 704afe2cd2..513d13bfd6 100644
--- a/src/broker/Data.cc
+++ b/src/broker/Data.cc
@@ -792,9 +792,9 @@ static bool data_type_check(const broker::data& d, BroType* t)
 IntrusivePtr<Val> bro_broker::data_to_val(broker::data d, BroType* type)
 	{
 	if ( type->Tag() == TYPE_ANY )
-		return {bro_broker::make_data_val(move(d)), false};
+		return {AdoptRef{}, bro_broker::make_data_val(move(d))};
 
-	return {caf::visit(val_converter{type}, std::move(d)), false};
+	return {AdoptRef{}, caf::visit(val_converter{type}, std::move(d))};
 	}
 
 broker::expected<broker::data> bro_broker::val_to_data(const Val* v)
diff --git a/src/supervisor/Supervisor.cc b/src/supervisor/Supervisor.cc
index 26ef5f4c10..b790eeead8 100644
--- a/src/supervisor/Supervisor.cc
+++ b/src/supervisor/Supervisor.cc
@@ -1024,7 +1024,7 @@ Supervisor::NodeConfig Supervisor::NodeConfig::FromRecord(const RecordVal* node)
 
 	while ( (v = cluster_table->NextEntry(k, c)) )
 		{
-		IntrusivePtr<ListVal> key{cluster_table_val->RecoverIndex(k), false};
+		IntrusivePtr<ListVal> key{AdoptRef{}, cluster_table_val->RecoverIndex(k)};
 		delete k;
 		auto name = key->Index(0)->AsStringVal()->ToStdString();
 		auto rv = v->Value()->AsRecordVal();
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@ std::string Supervisor::NodeConfig::ToJSON() const
 	{
 	auto re = std::make_unique<RE_Matcher>("^_");
 	auto node_val = ToRecord();
-	IntrusivePtr<StringVal> json_val{node_val->ToJSON(false, re.get()), false};
+	IntrusivePtr<StringVal> json_val{AdoptRef{}, node_val->ToJSON(false, re.get())};
 	auto rval = json_val->ToStdString();
 	return rval;
 	}
diff --git a/src/zeek.bif b/src/zeek.bif
index 8062a6e5d6..ffa5acee02 100644
--- a/src/zeek.bif
+++ b/src/zeek.bif
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ function terminate%(%): bool
 // is false).
 static bool prepare_environment(TableVal* tbl, bool set)
 	{
-	IntrusivePtr<ListVal> idxs{tbl->ConvertToPureList(), false};
+	IntrusivePtr<ListVal> idxs{AdoptRef{}, tbl->ConvertToPureList()};
 
 	for ( int i = 0; i < idxs->Length(); ++i )
 		{