diff --git a/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/SecurityManager.h b/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/SecurityManager.h
index 5943b75933..5031d55d02 100644
--- a/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/SecurityManager.h
+++ b/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/SecurityManager.h
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ public:
 
     virtual void setSecurityManagerEventHandler(SecurityManagerEventHandler* handler) {
         if (handler) {
-            if (eventHandler != &defaultEventHandler) {
+            if (eventHandler && (eventHandler != &defaultEventHandler)) {
                 delete eventHandler;
             }
             eventHandler = handler;
diff --git a/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/pal/PalSecurityManager.h b/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/pal/PalSecurityManager.h
index b4dd201402..5067faf562 100644
--- a/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/pal/PalSecurityManager.h
+++ b/features/FEATURE_BLE/ble/pal/PalSecurityManager.h
@@ -149,15 +149,13 @@ public:
 
     /* Entry points for the underlying stack to report events back to the user. */
  public:
-    /* guaranteed to return valid pointer */
-    SecurityManagerEventHandler get_event_handler() {
-        return _event_handler;
+    SecurityManagerEventHandler& get_event_handler() {
+        /* guaranteed to be a valid pointer */
+        return *_event_handler;
     }
 
-    void setSecurityManagerEventHandler(SecurityManagerEventHandler* event_handler) {
-        if (event_handler) {
-            _event_handler = event_handler;
-        }
+    void set_event_handler(SecurityManagerEventHandler &event_handler) {
+        _event_handler = &event_handler;
     }
 
 private:
diff --git a/features/FEATURE_BLE/source/generic/GenericSecurityManager.cpp b/features/FEATURE_BLE/source/generic/GenericSecurityManager.cpp
index 8cc8ad91c7..f0eee32422 100644
--- a/features/FEATURE_BLE/source/generic/GenericSecurityManager.cpp
+++ b/features/FEATURE_BLE/source/generic/GenericSecurityManager.cpp
@@ -99,10 +99,14 @@ public:
         return pal.set_passkey(passkey);
     }
 
+    void setSecurityManagerEventHandler(SecurityManagerEventHandler* handler) {
+        SecurityManager::setSecurityManagerEventHandler(handler);
+        pal.set_event_handler(*handler);
+    }
+
 protected:
     GenericSecurityManager(ble::pal::SecurityManager& palImpl) : pal(palImpl), saveStateEnabled(false) {
-        eventHandler = new SecurityManagerEventHandler();
-        pal.setSecurityManagerEventHandler(eventHandler);
+        pal.set_event_handler(defaultEventHandler);
     }
 
 public: