diff --git a/tcmalloc/span.h b/tcmalloc/span.h
index 7d3375a51..110bbd840 100644
--- a/tcmalloc/span.h
+++ b/tcmalloc/span.h
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class Span final : public SpanList::Elem {
   // ensure by some other means that the sampling state can't be changed
   // concurrently.
   // REQUIRES: this is a SAMPLED span.
-  SampledAllocation* sampled_allocation() const;
+  const SampledAllocation& sampled_allocation() const;
 
   // Is it a sampling span?
   // For debug checks. pageheap_lock is not required, but caller needs to ensure
@@ -460,10 +460,10 @@ inline bool Span::BitmapPush(void* ptr, size_t size, uint32_t reciprocal) {
   return true;
 }
 
-inline SampledAllocation* Span::sampled_allocation() const {
+inline const SampledAllocation& Span::sampled_allocation() const {
   TC_ASSERT(sampled_);
   TC_ASSERT(is_large_or_sampled());
-  return large_or_sampled_state_.sampled_allocation;
+  return *large_or_sampled_state_.sampled_allocation;
 }
 
 inline bool Span::sampled() const { return sampled_; }
diff --git a/tcmalloc/tcmalloc.cc b/tcmalloc/tcmalloc.cc
index 60b97b441..fee20a3c7 100644
--- a/tcmalloc/tcmalloc.cc
+++ b/tcmalloc/tcmalloc.cc
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ inline size_t GetLargeSize(const void* ptr, const Span& span) {
     if (tc_globals.guardedpage_allocator().PointerIsMine(ptr)) {
       return tc_globals.guardedpage_allocator().GetRequestedSize(ptr);
     }
-    return span.sampled_allocation()->sampled_stack.allocated_size;
+    return span.sampled_allocation().sampled_stack.allocated_size;
   } else {
     return span.bytes_in_span();
   }