diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
index de2a7d3415..323e408cab 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
       num_ranks_(num_ranks),
       rank_(rank),
       subcomms_ucp_(subcomms_ucp),
+      own_nccl_comm_(false),
       ucp_worker_(ucp_worker),
       ucp_eps_(eps),
       next_request_id_(0)
@@ -95,13 +96,18 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
    * @param rank rank of the current worker
    * @param stream stream for ordering collective operations
    */
-  std_comms(const ncclComm_t nccl_comm, int num_ranks, int rank, rmm::cuda_stream_view stream)
+  std_comms(const ncclComm_t nccl_comm,
+            int num_ranks,
+            int rank,
+            rmm::cuda_stream_view stream,
+            bool own_nccl_comm = false)
     : nccl_comm_(nccl_comm),
       stream_(stream),
       status_(stream),
       num_ranks_(num_ranks),
       rank_(rank),
-      subcomms_ucp_(false)
+      subcomms_ucp_(false),
+      own_nccl_comm_(own_nccl_comm)
   {
     initialize();
   };
@@ -116,6 +122,11 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
   {
     requests_in_flight_.clear();
     free_requests_.clear();
+
+    if (own_nccl_comm_) {
+      RAFT_NCCL_TRY_NO_THROW(ncclCommDestroy(nccl_comm_));
+      nccl_comm_ = nullptr;
+    }
   }
 
   int get_size() const { return num_ranks_; }
@@ -172,7 +183,7 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
 
     RAFT_NCCL_TRY(ncclCommInitRank(&nccl_comm, subcomm_size, id, key));
 
-    return std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new std_comms(nccl_comm, subcomm_size, key, stream_));
+    return std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new std_comms(nccl_comm, subcomm_size, key, stream_, true));
   }
 
   void barrier() const
@@ -515,6 +526,7 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
   int rank_;
 
   bool subcomms_ucp_;
+  bool own_nccl_comm_;
 
   comms_ucp_handler ucp_handler_;
   ucp_worker_h ucp_worker_;