diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/mpi_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/mpi_comms.hpp
index b0da532f0a..423beace7f 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/mpi_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/mpi_comms.hpp
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 #include <raft/cudart_utils.h>
 #include <raft/error.hpp>
 #include <raft/handle.hpp>
+#include <rmm/cuda_stream_view.hpp>
+#include <rmm/device_scalar.hpp>
 
 #define RAFT_MPI_TRY(call)                                                                    \
   do {                                                                                        \
@@ -104,8 +106,14 @@ constexpr MPI_Op get_mpi_op(const op_t op)
 
 class mpi_comms : public comms_iface {
  public:
-  mpi_comms(MPI_Comm comm, const bool owns_mpi_comm)
-    : owns_mpi_comm_(owns_mpi_comm), mpi_comm_(comm), size_(0), rank_(1), next_request_id_(0)
+  mpi_comms(MPI_Comm comm, const bool owns_mpi_comm, rmm::cuda_stream_view stream)
+    : owns_mpi_comm_(owns_mpi_comm),
+      mpi_comm_(comm),
+      size_(0),
+      rank_(1),
+      status_(stream),
+      next_request_id_(0),
+      stream_(stream)
   {
     int mpi_is_initialized = 0;
     RAFT_MPI_TRY(MPI_Initialized(&mpi_is_initialized));
@@ -121,6 +129,12 @@ class mpi_comms : public comms_iface {
     RAFT_NCCL_TRY(ncclCommInitRank(&nccl_comm_, size_, id, rank_));
   }
 
+  void initialize()
+  {
+    status_.set_value_to_zero_async(stream_);
+    buf_ = status_.data();
+  }
+
   virtual ~mpi_comms()
   {
     // finalizing NCCL
@@ -139,7 +153,13 @@ class mpi_comms : public comms_iface {
     return std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new mpi_comms(new_comm, true));
   }
 
-  void barrier() const { RAFT_MPI_TRY(MPI_Barrier(mpi_comm_)); }
+  void barrier() const
+  {
+    allreduce(buf_, buf_, 1, datatype_t::INT32, op_t::SUM, stream_);
+
+    ASSERT(sync_stream(stream_) == status_t::SUCCESS,
+           "ERROR: syncStream failed. This can be caused by a failed rank_.");
+  }
 
   void isend(const void* buf, size_t size, int dest, int tag, request_t* request) const
   {
@@ -397,6 +417,10 @@ class mpi_comms : public comms_iface {
   bool owns_mpi_comm_;
   MPI_Comm mpi_comm_;
 
+  cudaStream_t stream_;
+  rmm::device_scalar<int32_t> status_;
+  int32_t* buf_;
+
   ncclComm_t nccl_comm_;
   int size_;
   int rank_;
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
index d8b0f2090c..1a4cc2fcf9 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/detail/std_comms.hpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <raft/comms/detail/util.hpp>
 
 #include <raft/handle.hpp>
+#include <rmm/device_scalar.hpp>
 #include <rmm/device_uvector.hpp>
 
 #include <raft/error.hpp>
@@ -70,11 +71,11 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
             std::shared_ptr<ucp_ep_h*> eps,
             int num_ranks,
             int rank,
-            cudaStream_t stream,
+            rmm::cuda_stream_view stream,
             bool subcomms_ucp = true)
     : nccl_comm_(nccl_comm),
       stream_(stream),
-      status_(2, stream),
+      status_(stream),
       num_ranks_(num_ranks),
       rank_(rank),
       subcomms_ucp_(subcomms_ucp),
@@ -92,10 +93,10 @@ 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, cudaStream_t stream)
+  std_comms(const ncclComm_t nccl_comm, int num_ranks, int rank, rmm::cuda_stream_view stream)
     : nccl_comm_(nccl_comm),
       stream_(stream),
-      status_(2, stream),
+      status_(stream),
       num_ranks_(num_ranks),
       rank_(rank),
       subcomms_ucp_(false)
@@ -105,8 +106,14 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
 
   void initialize()
   {
-    sendbuff_ = status_.data();
-    recvbuff_ = status_.data() + 1;
+    status_.set_value_to_zero_async(stream_);
+    buf_ = status_.data();
+  }
+
+  ~std_comms()
+  {
+    requests_in_flight_.clear();
+    free_requests_.clear();
   }
 
   int get_size() const { return num_ranks_; }
@@ -179,10 +186,7 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
 
   void barrier() const
   {
-    RAFT_CUDA_TRY(cudaMemsetAsync(sendbuff_, 1, sizeof(int), stream_));
-    RAFT_CUDA_TRY(cudaMemsetAsync(recvbuff_, 1, sizeof(int), stream_));
-
-    allreduce(sendbuff_, recvbuff_, 1, datatype_t::INT32, op_t::SUM, stream_);
+    allreduce(buf_, buf_, 1, datatype_t::INT32, op_t::SUM, stream_);
 
     ASSERT(sync_stream(stream_) == status_t::SUCCESS,
            "ERROR: syncStream failed. This can be caused by a failed rank_.");
@@ -505,9 +509,9 @@ class std_comms : public comms_iface {
   ncclComm_t nccl_comm_;
   cudaStream_t stream_;
 
-  int *sendbuff_, *recvbuff_;
-  rmm::device_uvector<int> status_;
+  rmm::device_scalar<int32_t> status_;
 
+  int32_t* buf_;
   int num_ranks_;
   int rank_;
 
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
index bb1e30afc8..3fab04c441 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/mpi_comms.hpp
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ using mpi_comms = detail::mpi_comms;
 
 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, false)));
+  auto communicator = std::make_shared<comms_t>(
+    std::unique_ptr<comms_iface>(new mpi_comms(comm, false, handle->get_stream())));
   handle->set_comms(communicator);
 };
 
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/comms/std_comms.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/comms/std_comms.hpp
index b4aa72d53e..6fa0f7e37b 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/comms/std_comms.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/comms/std_comms.hpp
@@ -103,4 +103,4 @@ inline void get_unique_id(char* uid, int size)
   memcpy(uid, id.internal, size);
 }
 };  // namespace comms
-};  // end namespace raft
\ No newline at end of file
+};  // end namespace raft