diff --git a/src/ConnCompressor.cc b/src/ConnCompressor.cc
index 29e24457f5..16dd394c8c 100644
--- a/src/ConnCompressor.cc
+++ b/src/ConnCompressor.cc
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ const IP_Hdr* ConnCompressor::PendingConnToPacket(const PendingConn* c)
 		int packet_length = sizeof(*ip) + sizeof(*tp);
 		ip = (struct ip*) new char[packet_length];
 		tp = (struct tcphdr*) (((char*) ip) + sizeof(*ip));
-		ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr(ip);
+		ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr(ip, true);
 
 		// Constant fields.
 		ip->ip_v = 4;
diff --git a/src/Frag.cc b/src/Frag.cc
index b72fac4b16..21abc324f8 100644
--- a/src/Frag.cc
+++ b/src/Frag.cc
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ void FragReassembler::AddFragment(double t, const IP_Hdr* ip, const u_char* pkt,
 
 void FragReassembler::Overlap(const u_char* b1, const u_char* b2, int n)
 	{
-	IP_Hdr proto_h((const struct ip*) proto_hdr);
+	IP_Hdr proto_h(proto_hdr, false);
 
 	if ( memcmp((const void*) b1, (const void*) b2, n) )
 		s->Weird("fragment_inconsistency", &proto_h);
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ void FragReassembler::BlockInserted(DataBlock* /* start_block */)
 			// can happen for benign reasons when we're
 			// intermingling parts of two fragmented packets.
 
-			IP_Hdr proto_h((const struct ip*) proto_hdr);
+			IP_Hdr proto_h(proto_hdr, false);
 			s->Weird("fragment_size_inconsistency", &proto_h);
 
 			// We decide to analyze the contiguous portion now.
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ void FragReassembler::BlockInserted(DataBlock* /* start_block */)
 
 	else if ( last_block->upper > frag_size )
 		{
-		IP_Hdr proto_h((const struct ip*) proto_hdr);
+		IP_Hdr proto_h(proto_hdr, false);
 		s->Weird("fragment_size_inconsistency", &proto_h);
 		frag_size = last_block->upper;
 		}
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ void FragReassembler::BlockInserted(DataBlock* /* start_block */)
 		}
 
 	delete reassembled_pkt;
-	reassembled_pkt = new IP_Hdr(reassem4);
+	reassembled_pkt = new IP_Hdr(reassem4, true);
 
 	DeleteTimer();
 	}
diff --git a/src/IP.h b/src/IP.h
index ba37fb4c69..36e8634912 100644
--- a/src/IP.h
+++ b/src/IP.h
@@ -9,23 +9,13 @@
 
 class IP_Hdr {
 public:
-	IP_Hdr(struct ip* arg_ip4)
-		: ip4(arg_ip4), ip6(0), del(1)
+	IP_Hdr(const struct ip* arg_ip4, bool arg_del)
+		: ip4(arg_ip4), ip6(0), del(arg_del)
 		{
 		}
 
-	IP_Hdr(const struct ip* arg_ip4)
-		: ip4(arg_ip4), ip6(0), del(0)
-		{
-		}
-
-	IP_Hdr(struct ip6_hdr* arg_ip6)
-		: ip4(0), ip6(arg_ip6), del(1)
-		{
-		}
-
-	IP_Hdr(const struct ip6_hdr* arg_ip6)
-		: ip4(0), ip6(arg_ip6), del(0)
+	IP_Hdr(const struct ip6_hdr* arg_ip6, bool arg_del)
+		: ip4(0), ip6(arg_ip6), del(arg_del)
 		{
 		}
 
@@ -90,7 +80,7 @@ public:
 private:
 	const struct ip* ip4;
 	const struct ip6_hdr* ip6;
-	int del;
+	bool del;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/PIA.cc b/src/PIA.cc
index 7417615566..9adb4ccab3 100644
--- a/src/PIA.cc
+++ b/src/PIA.cc
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ void PIA_TCP::FirstPacket(bool is_orig, const IP_Hdr* ip)
 			ip4->ip_p = IPPROTO_TCP;
 
 			// Cast to const so that it doesn't delete it.
-			ip4_hdr = new IP_Hdr((const struct ip*) ip4);
+			ip4_hdr = new IP_Hdr(ip4, false);
 			}
 
 		if ( is_orig )
diff --git a/src/PacketSort.cc b/src/PacketSort.cc
index 67a0cf861f..d0e04a37ea 100644
--- a/src/PacketSort.cc
+++ b/src/PacketSort.cc
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ PacketSortElement::PacketSortElement(PktSrc* arg_src,
 		{
 		const struct ip* ip = (const struct ip*) (pkt + hdr_size);
 		if ( ip->ip_v == 4 )
-			ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr(ip);
+			ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr(ip, false);
 		else
-			ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr((const struct ip6_hdr*) ip);
+			ip_hdr = new IP_Hdr((const struct ip6_hdr*) ip, false);
 
 		if ( ip_hdr->NextProto() == IPPROTO_TCP &&
 		      // Note: can't sort fragmented packets
diff --git a/src/Serializer.h b/src/Serializer.h
index 45575f7fa0..cd1199a340 100644
--- a/src/Serializer.h
+++ b/src/Serializer.h
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ public:
 		}
 
 	const IP_Hdr IP() const
-		{ return IP_Hdr((struct ip *) (pkt + hdr_size)); }
+		{ return IP_Hdr((struct ip *) (pkt + hdr_size), true); }
 
 	void Describe(ODesc* d) const;
 
diff --git a/src/Sessions.cc b/src/Sessions.cc
index 908d091ace..3ab673d165 100644
--- a/src/Sessions.cc
+++ b/src/Sessions.cc
@@ -275,13 +275,13 @@ void NetSessions::NextPacket(double t, const struct pcap_pkthdr* hdr,
 		const struct ip* ip = (const struct ip*) (pkt + hdr_size);
 		if ( ip->ip_v == 4 )
 			{
-			IP_Hdr ip_hdr(ip);
+			IP_Hdr ip_hdr(ip, false);
 			DoNextPacket(t, hdr, &ip_hdr, pkt, hdr_size);
 			}
 
 		else if ( ip->ip_v == 6 )
 			{
-			IP_Hdr ip_hdr((const struct ip6_hdr*) (pkt + hdr_size));
+			IP_Hdr ip_hdr((const struct ip6_hdr*) (pkt + hdr_size), false);
 			DoNextPacket(t, hdr, &ip_hdr, pkt, hdr_size);
 			}