diff --git a/src/Instance.cxx b/src/Instance.cxx
index f9aca0038..090ae2295 100644
--- a/src/Instance.cxx
+++ b/src/Instance.cxx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "Partition.hxx"
 #include "Idle.hxx"
 #include "Stats.hxx"
+#include "client/List.hxx"
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_CURL
 #include "RemoteTagCache.hxx"
diff --git a/src/Instance.hxx b/src/Instance.hxx
index 5626ceb33..754524bef 100644
--- a/src/Instance.hxx
+++ b/src/Instance.hxx
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ struct Instance final
 	std::unique_ptr<RemoteTagCache> remote_tag_cache;
 #endif
 
-	ClientList *client_list;
+	std::unique_ptr<ClientList> client_list;
 
 	std::list<Partition> partitions;
 
diff --git a/src/Main.cxx b/src/Main.cxx
index cf212fb45..7e3b1fcf4 100644
--- a/src/Main.cxx
+++ b/src/Main.cxx
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ MainConfigured(const struct options &options, const ConfigData &raw_config)
 
 	const unsigned max_clients =
 		raw_config.GetPositive(ConfigOption::MAX_CONN, 10);
-	instance.client_list = new ClientList(max_clients);
+	instance.client_list = std::make_unique<ClientList>(max_clients);
 
 	initialize_decoder_and_player(instance,
 				      raw_config, config.replay_gain);
@@ -617,8 +617,6 @@ mpd_main_after_fork(Instance &instance,
 	ZeroconfDeinit();
 
 	instance.BeginShutdownPartitions();
-
-	delete instance.client_list;
 }
 
 #ifdef ANDROID