diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/comms.hpp
index 68b8e723e9..0de84117e0 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/comms.hpp
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ constexpr datatype_t get_type<double>()
 
 class comms_iface {
  public:
+  virtual ~comms_iface() {}
+
   virtual int get_size() const = 0;
   virtual int get_rank() const = 0;
 
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
index 5cdde29db5..432f250b59 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ class mpi_comms : public comms_iface {
 inline void initialize_mpi_comms(handle_t* handle, MPI_Comm comm)
 {
   auto communicator =
-    std::make_shared<comms_t>(std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new mpi_comms(comm, true)));
+    std::make_shared<comms_t>(std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new mpi_comms(comm, false)));
   handle->set_comms(communicator);
 };