diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index 02a6ba83a0..7b0d8e8f73 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ IntrusivePtr<Val> BinaryExpr::SetFold(Val* v1, Val* v2) const
 
 	switch ( tag ) {
 	case EXPR_AND:
-		return {AdoptRef{}, tv1->Intersect(tv2)};
+		return tv1->Intersection(*tv2);
 
 	case EXPR_OR:
 		{
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index 88d67692e3..9e293a51b9 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -1664,12 +1664,12 @@ bool TableVal::RemoveFrom(Val* val) const
 	return true;
 	}
 
-TableVal* TableVal::Intersect(const TableVal* tv) const
+IntrusivePtr<TableVal> TableVal::Intersection(const TableVal& tv) const
 	{
-	TableVal* result = new TableVal(table_type);
+	auto result = make_intrusive<TableVal>(table_type);
 
 	const PDict<TableEntryVal>* t0 = AsTable();
-	const PDict<TableEntryVal>* t1 = tv->AsTable();
+	const PDict<TableEntryVal>* t1 = tv.AsTable();
 	PDict<TableEntryVal>* t2 = result->AsNonConstTable();
 
 	// Figure out which is smaller; assign it to t1.
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index ec8fed0ef2..a552ec0e53 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -795,11 +795,19 @@ public:
 	// Returns true if the addition typechecked, false if not.
 	bool RemoveFrom(Val* v) const override;
 
-	// Returns a new table that is the intersection of this
-	// table and the given table.  Intersection is just done
-	// on index, not on yield value, so this really only makes
-	// sense for sets.
-	TableVal* Intersect(const TableVal* v) const;
+	/**
+	 * Returns a new table that is the intersection of this table
+	 * and the given table.  Intersection is done only on index, not on
+	 * yield value, so this generally makes most sense to use for sets,
+	 * not tables.
+	 * @param v  The intersecting table.
+	 * @return  The intersection of this table and the given one.
+	 */
+	IntrusivePtr<TableVal> Intersection(const TableVal& v) const;
+
+	[[deprecated("Remove in v4.1.  Use Intersection() instead.")]]
+	TableVal* Intersect(const TableVal* v) const
+		{ return Intersection(*v).release(); }
 
 	// Returns true if this set contains the same members as the
 	// given set.  Note that comparisons are done using hash keys,