diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
index 862b9b666..3189ae85d 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "ggml-rpc.h"
 #include "ggml-impl.h"
 #include "ggml-backend-impl.h"
+#include "ggml-cpp.h"
 
 #include <cinttypes>
 #include <string>
@@ -853,12 +854,13 @@ bool rpc_server::get_alloc_size(const rpc_msg_get_alloc_size_req & request, rpc_
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
 
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     ggml_tensor * tensor = deserialize_tensor(ctx, &request.tensor);
 
     if (tensor == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("Null tensor pointer passed to server get_alloc_size function.\n");
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -871,7 +873,6 @@ bool rpc_server::get_alloc_size(const rpc_msg_get_alloc_size_req & request, rpc_
 
     response.alloc_size = ggml_backend_buft_get_alloc_size(buft,tensor);
 
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -985,11 +986,12 @@ bool rpc_server::set_tensor(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input) {
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     ggml_tensor * tensor = deserialize_tensor(ctx, in_tensor);
     if (tensor == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("[%s] error deserializing tensor\n", __func__);
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
     GGML_PRINT_DEBUG("[%s] buffer: %p, data: %p, offset: %" PRIu64 ", size: %zu\n", __func__, (void*)tensor->buffer, tensor->data, offset, size);
@@ -1016,7 +1018,6 @@ bool rpc_server::set_tensor(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input) {
         printf("[%s] saved to '%s'\n", __func__, cache_file.c_str());
     }
     ggml_backend_tensor_set(tensor, data, offset, size);
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1060,11 +1061,12 @@ bool rpc_server::set_tensor_hash(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input, rpc_msg_set
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     ggml_tensor * tensor = deserialize_tensor(ctx, in_tensor);
     if (tensor == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("[%s] error deserializing tensor\n", __func__);
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
     GGML_PRINT_DEBUG("[%s] buffer: %p, data: %p, offset: %" PRIu64 ", size: %zu, hash: %" PRIx64 "\n", __func__, (void*)tensor->buffer, tensor->data, offset, size, *hash);
@@ -1080,7 +1082,6 @@ bool rpc_server::set_tensor_hash(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input, rpc_msg_set
     }
     ggml_backend_tensor_set(tensor, cached_file.data(), offset, size);
     response.result = 1;
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1090,11 +1091,12 @@ bool rpc_server::init_tensor(const rpc_msg_init_tensor_req & request) {
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     ggml_tensor * tensor = deserialize_tensor(ctx, &request.tensor);
     if (tensor == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("Null tensor pointer passed to server init_tensor function.\n");
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -1110,11 +1112,9 @@ bool rpc_server::init_tensor(const rpc_msg_init_tensor_req & request) {
         // This pointer can either be passed around client/server, or probably better stored server-side and kept track of.
         // Currently unimplemented.
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("tensor->extra populated by the backend, this is currently unsupported.\n");
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
 
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1124,11 +1124,12 @@ bool rpc_server::get_tensor(const rpc_msg_get_tensor_req & request, std::vector<
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     ggml_tensor * tensor = deserialize_tensor(ctx, &request.tensor);
     if (tensor == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("[%s] error deserializing tensor\n", __func__);
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
     GGML_PRINT_DEBUG("[%s] buffer: %p, data: %p, offset: %" PRIu64 ", size: %" PRIu64 "\n", __func__, (void*)tensor->buffer, tensor->data, request.offset, request.size);
@@ -1147,7 +1148,6 @@ bool rpc_server::get_tensor(const rpc_msg_get_tensor_req & request, std::vector<
 
     response.resize(request.size, 0);
     ggml_backend_tensor_get(tensor, response.data(), request.offset, request.size);
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1157,12 +1157,14 @@ bool rpc_server::copy_tensor(const rpc_msg_copy_tensor_req & request, rpc_msg_co
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
+
     ggml_tensor * src = deserialize_tensor(ctx, &request.src);
     ggml_tensor * dst = deserialize_tensor(ctx, &request.dst);
     if (src == nullptr || dst == nullptr) {
         GGML_LOG_ERROR("[%s] error deserializing tensors\n", __func__);
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -1180,7 +1182,6 @@ bool rpc_server::copy_tensor(const rpc_msg_copy_tensor_req & request, rpc_msg_co
                          dst_data + src_size,
                          dst_base,
                          dst_base + dst_buf_sz);
-        ggml_free(ctx);
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -1188,7 +1189,6 @@ bool rpc_server::copy_tensor(const rpc_msg_copy_tensor_req & request, rpc_msg_co
                      __func__, (void*) src->buffer, (void*) dst->buffer);
 
     response.result = ggml_backend_buffer_copy_tensor(src, dst);
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1242,7 +1242,9 @@ bool rpc_server::graph_compute(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input, rpc_msg_graph
         /*.mem_buffer =*/ NULL,
         /*.no_alloc   =*/ true,
     };
-    struct ggml_context * ctx = ggml_init(params);
+    ggml_context_ptr ctx_ptr { ggml_init(params) };
+    GGML_ASSERT(ctx_ptr != nullptr);
+    ggml_context * ctx = ctx_ptr.get();
     struct ggml_cgraph * graph = ggml_new_graph_custom(ctx, n_nodes, false);
     graph->n_nodes = n_nodes;
     std::unordered_map<uint64_t, const rpc_tensor*> tensor_ptrs;
@@ -1257,7 +1259,6 @@ bool rpc_server::graph_compute(const std::vector<uint8_t> & input, rpc_msg_graph
     }
     ggml_status status = ggml_backend_graph_compute(backend, graph);
     response.result = status;
-    ggml_free(ctx);
     return true;
 }