diff --git a/src/Type.cc b/src/Type.cc
index 3543edd195..0bd5b90227 100644
--- a/src/Type.cc
+++ b/src/Type.cc
@@ -826,7 +826,16 @@ void TypeDecl::DescribeReST(ODesc* d, bool roles_only) const
 RecordType::RecordType(type_decl_list* arg_types) : Type(TYPE_RECORD)
 	{
 	types = arg_types;
-	num_fields = types ? types->length() : 0;
+
+	if ( types )
+		{
+		num_fields = types->length();
+
+		loop_over_list(*types, i)
+			AddField(i, (*types)[i]);
+		}
+	else
+		num_fields = 0;
 	}
 
 // in this case the clone is actually not so shallow, since
@@ -850,6 +859,13 @@ RecordType::~RecordType()
 		}
 	}
 
+void RecordType::AddField(unsigned int field, const TypeDecl* td)
+	{
+	ASSERT(field == managed_fields.size());
+
+	managed_fields.push_back(IsManagedType(td->type));
+	}
+
 bool RecordType::HasField(const char* field) const
 	{
 	return FieldOffset(field) >= 0;
@@ -1023,7 +1039,9 @@ const char* RecordType::AddFields(const type_decl_list& others,
 			td->attrs->AddAttr(make_intrusive<detail::Attr>(detail::ATTR_LOG));
 			}
 
+		int field = types->size();
 		types->push_back(td);
+		AddField(field, td);
 		}
 
 	num_fields = types->length();
diff --git a/src/Type.h b/src/Type.h
index 88d6efdb25..5e5978506b 100644
--- a/src/Type.h
+++ b/src/Type.h
@@ -599,6 +599,11 @@ public:
 	const TypeDecl* FieldDecl(int field) const;
 	TypeDecl* FieldDecl(int field);
 
+	// Returns flags corresponding to which fields in the record
+	// have types requiring memory management (reference counting).
+	const std::vector<bool>& ManagedFields() const
+		{ return managed_fields; }
+
 	int NumFields() const			{ return num_fields; }
 
 	/**
@@ -634,6 +639,12 @@ public:
 protected:
 	RecordType() { types = nullptr; }
 
+	void AddField(unsigned int field, const TypeDecl* td);
+
+	// If we were willing to bound the size of records, then we could
+	// use std::bitset here instead.
+	std::vector<bool> managed_fields;
+
 	int num_fields;
 	type_decl_list* types;
 };
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index fcdc0eca95..166445d6f8 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -2785,10 +2785,11 @@ TableVal::TableRecordDependencies TableVal::parse_time_table_record_dependencies
 
 RecordVal::RecordTypeValMap RecordVal::parse_time_records;
 
-RecordVal::RecordVal(RecordTypePtr t, bool init_fields) : Val(std::move(t))
+RecordVal::RecordVal(RecordTypePtr t, bool init_fields)
+: Val(t), is_managed(t->ManagedFields())
 	{
 	origin = nullptr;
-	rt = {NewRef{}, GetType()->AsRecordType()};
+	rt = std::move(t);
 
 	int n = rt->NumFields();
 
@@ -2871,8 +2872,8 @@ RecordVal::~RecordVal()
 	auto n = record_val->size();
 
 	for ( unsigned int i = 0; i < n; ++i )
-		if ( HasField(i) )
-			DeleteIfManaged((*record_val)[i], rt->GetFieldType(i));
+		if ( HasField(i) && IsManaged(i) )
+			DeleteManagedType((*record_val)[i]);
 
 	delete record_val;
 	delete is_in_record;
@@ -2887,6 +2888,8 @@ void RecordVal::Assign(int field, ValPtr new_val)
 	{
 	if ( new_val )
 		{
+		DeleteFieldIfManaged(field);
+
 		auto t = rt->GetFieldType(field);
 		(*record_val)[field] = ZVal(new_val, t);
 		(*is_in_record)[field] = true;
@@ -2900,8 +2903,8 @@ void RecordVal::Remove(int field)
 	{
 	if ( HasField(field) )
 		{
-		auto t = rt->GetFieldType(field);
-		DeleteIfManaged((*record_val)[field], t);
+		if ( IsManaged(field) )
+			DeleteManagedType((*record_val)[field]);
 
 		(*record_val)[field] = ZVal();
 		(*is_in_record)[field] = false;
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index 11ba8e5ac8..98796cf61b 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -1110,21 +1110,18 @@ public:
 	void AssignInterval(int field, double new_val)
 		{ Assign(field, new_val); }
 
+	void Assign(int field, StringVal* new_val)
+		{
+		DeleteManagedType((*record_val)[field]);
+		(*record_val)[field].string_val = new_val;
+		AddedField(field);
+		}
 	void Assign(int field, const char* new_val)
-		{
-		(*record_val)[field].string_val = new StringVal(new_val);
-		AddedField(field);
-		}
+		{ Assign(field, new StringVal(new_val)); }
 	void Assign(int field, const std::string& new_val)
-		{
-		(*record_val)[field].string_val = new StringVal(new_val);
-		AddedField(field);
-		}
+		{ Assign(field, new StringVal(new_val)); }
 	void Assign(int field, String* new_val)
-		{
-		(*record_val)[field].string_val = new StringVal(new_val);
-		AddedField(field);
-		}
+		{ Assign(field, new StringVal(new_val)); }
 
 	/**
 	 * Appends a value to the record's fields.  The caller is responsible
@@ -1381,6 +1378,15 @@ protected:
 	static RecordTypeValMap parse_time_records;
 
 private:
+	void DeleteFieldIfManaged(unsigned int field)
+		{
+		if ( HasField(field) && IsManaged(field) )
+			DeleteManagedType((*record_val)[field]);
+		}
+
+	bool IsManaged(unsigned int offset) const
+		{ return is_managed[offset]; }
+
 	// Just for template inferencing.
 	RecordVal* Get()	{ return this; }
 
@@ -1394,6 +1400,9 @@ private:
 	// Zeek does not enforce that non-optional fields are actually
 	// present.
 	std::vector<bool>* is_in_record;
+
+	// Whether a given field requires explicit memory management.
+	const std::vector<bool>& is_managed;
 };
 
 class EnumVal final : public detail::IntValImplementation {