diff --git a/src/consensus/tx_verify.cpp b/src/consensus/tx_verify.cpp
index 9d09872597..c38b96434a 100644
--- a/src/consensus/tx_verify.cpp
+++ b/src/consensus/tx_verify.cpp
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ int64_t GetTransactionSigOpCost(const CTransaction& tx, const CCoinsViewCache& i
         const Coin& coin = inputs.AccessCoin(tx.vin[i].prevout);
         assert(!coin.IsSpent());
         const CTxOut &prevout = coin.out;
-        nSigOps += CountWitnessSigOps(tx.vin[i].scriptSig, prevout.scriptPubKey, &tx.vin[i].scriptWitness, flags);
+        nSigOps += CountWitnessSigOps(tx.vin[i].scriptSig, prevout.scriptPubKey, tx.vin[i].scriptWitness, flags);
     }
     return nSigOps;
 }
diff --git a/src/script/interpreter.cpp b/src/script/interpreter.cpp
index 57214838cf..9f2776b68a 100644
--- a/src/script/interpreter.cpp
+++ b/src/script/interpreter.cpp
@@ -2136,10 +2136,8 @@ size_t static WitnessSigOps(int witversion, const std::vector<unsigned char>& wi
     return 0;
 }
 
-size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey, const CScriptWitness* witness, script_verify_flags flags)
+size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey, const CScriptWitness& witness, script_verify_flags flags)
 {
-    static const CScriptWitness witnessEmpty;
-
     if ((flags & SCRIPT_VERIFY_WITNESS) == 0) {
         return 0;
     }
@@ -2148,7 +2146,7 @@ size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey,
     int witnessversion;
     std::vector<unsigned char> witnessprogram;
     if (scriptPubKey.IsWitnessProgram(witnessversion, witnessprogram)) {
-        return WitnessSigOps(witnessversion, witnessprogram, witness ? *witness : witnessEmpty);
+        return WitnessSigOps(witnessversion, witnessprogram, witness);
     }
 
     if (scriptPubKey.IsPayToScriptHash() && scriptSig.IsPushOnly()) {
@@ -2160,7 +2158,7 @@ size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey,
         }
         CScript subscript(data.begin(), data.end());
         if (subscript.IsWitnessProgram(witnessversion, witnessprogram)) {
-            return WitnessSigOps(witnessversion, witnessprogram, witness ? *witness : witnessEmpty);
+            return WitnessSigOps(witnessversion, witnessprogram, witness);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/script/interpreter.h b/src/script/interpreter.h
index 7f8a1f7a41..cbb137e09e 100644
--- a/src/script/interpreter.h
+++ b/src/script/interpreter.h
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ bool EvalScript(std::vector<std::vector<unsigned char> >& stack, const CScript&
 bool EvalScript(std::vector<std::vector<unsigned char> >& stack, const CScript& script, script_verify_flags flags, const BaseSignatureChecker& checker, SigVersion sigversion, ScriptError* error = nullptr);
 bool VerifyScript(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey, const CScriptWitness* witness, script_verify_flags flags, const BaseSignatureChecker& checker, ScriptError* serror = nullptr);
 
-size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey, const CScriptWitness* witness, script_verify_flags flags);
+size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript& scriptSig, const CScript& scriptPubKey, const CScriptWitness& witness, script_verify_flags flags);
 
 int FindAndDelete(CScript& script, const CScript& b);
 
diff --git a/src/test/fuzz/coins_view.cpp b/src/test/fuzz/coins_view.cpp
index c687065423..dceec3d2a2 100644
--- a/src/test/fuzz/coins_view.cpp
+++ b/src/test/fuzz/coins_view.cpp
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ void TestCoinsView(FuzzedDataProvider& fuzzed_data_provider, CCoinsView& backend
                 const auto flags = script_verify_flags::from_int(fuzzed_data_provider.ConsumeIntegral<script_verify_flags::value_type>());
                 if (!transaction.vin.empty() && (flags & SCRIPT_VERIFY_WITNESS) != 0 && (flags & SCRIPT_VERIFY_P2SH) == 0) {
                     // Avoid:
-                    // script/interpreter.cpp:1705: size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript &, const CScript &, const CScriptWitness *, unsigned int): Assertion `(flags & SCRIPT_VERIFY_P2SH) != 0' failed.
+                    // script/interpreter.cpp:1705: size_t CountWitnessSigOps(const CScript &, const CScript &, const CScriptWitness &, unsigned int): Assertion `(flags & SCRIPT_VERIFY_P2SH) != 0' failed.
                     return;
                 }
                 (void)GetTransactionSigOpCost(transaction, coins_view_cache, flags);
diff --git a/src/test/fuzz/script.cpp b/src/test/fuzz/script.cpp
index dfad0b7184..9d3ce27ae3 100644
--- a/src/test/fuzz/script.cpp
+++ b/src/test/fuzz/script.cpp
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ FUZZ_TARGET(script, .init = initialize_script)
             for (const auto& s : random_string_vector) {
                 wit.stack.emplace_back(s.begin(), s.end());
             }
-            (void)CountWitnessSigOps(script, *other_script, &wit, flags);
+            (void)CountWitnessSigOps(script, *other_script, wit, flags);
             wit.SetNull();
         }
     }