diff --git a/libs/ardour/audioregion.cc b/libs/ardour/audioregion.cc
index f172143547..6944e05bca 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/audioregion.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/audioregion.cc
@@ -2430,9 +2430,6 @@ AudioRegion::apply_region_fx (BufferSet& bufs, samplepos_t start_sample, samplep
 		}
 	}
 
-	ARDOUR::ProcessThread* pt = new ProcessThread (); // TODO -> move to butler ?
-	pt->get_buffers ();
-
 	samplecnt_t latency_offset = 0;
 
 	for (auto const& rfx : _plugins) {
@@ -2470,6 +2467,4 @@ AudioRegion::apply_region_fx (BufferSet& bufs, samplepos_t start_sample, samplep
 	}
 	_fx_pos = end_sample;
 	_fx_latent_read = false;
-	pt->drop_buffers ();
-	delete pt;
 }
diff --git a/libs/ardour/butler.cc b/libs/ardour/butler.cc
index 8c76c9b084..039d1aef00 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/butler.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/butler.cc
@@ -172,7 +172,12 @@ Butler::_thread_work (void* arg)
 {
 	SessionEvent::create_per_thread_pool ("butler events", 4096);
 	pthread_set_name (X_("butler"));
-	return ((Butler*)arg)->thread_work ();
+	ARDOUR::ProcessThread* pt = new ProcessThread ();
+	pt->get_buffers ();
+	void* rv = ((Butler*)arg)->thread_work ();
+	pt->drop_buffers ();
+	delete pt;
+	return rv;
 }
 
 void*