diff --git a/nvbench/benchmark_base.cuh b/nvbench/benchmark_base.cuh
index 7a1f594..2261b31 100644
--- a/nvbench/benchmark_base.cuh
+++ b/nvbench/benchmark_base.cuh
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #include <nvbench/device_manager.cuh>
 #include <nvbench/state.cuh>
 
-#include <functional> // reference_wrapper
+#include <functional> // reference_wrapper, ref
 #include <memory>
 #include <optional>
 #include <vector>
@@ -153,9 +153,14 @@ struct benchmark_base
 
   void run() { this->do_run(); }
 
-  void set_printer(optional_ref<nvbench::printer_base> printer)
+  void set_printer(nvbench::printer_base& printer)
   {
-    m_printer = printer;
+    m_printer = std::ref(printer);
+  }
+
+  void clear_printer()
+  {
+    m_printer = std::nullopt;
   }
 
   [[nodiscard]] optional_ref<nvbench::printer_base> get_printer() const
diff --git a/nvbench/main.cuh b/nvbench/main.cuh
index e5a624a..83a8672 100644
--- a/nvbench/main.cuh
+++ b/nvbench/main.cuh
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@
 #include <nvbench/option_parser.cuh>
 #include <nvbench/printer_base.cuh>
 
-#include <functional> // std::ref
 #include <iostream>
-#include <optional> // std::nullopt
 
 #define NVBENCH_MAIN                                                           \
   int main(int argc, char const *const *argv)                                  \
@@ -59,9 +57,9 @@
     auto &benchmarks = parser.get_benchmarks();                                \
     for (auto &bench_ptr : benchmarks)                                         \
     {                                                                          \
-      bench_ptr->set_printer(std::ref(printer));                               \
+      bench_ptr->set_printer(printer);                                         \
       bench_ptr->run();                                                        \
-      bench_ptr->set_printer(std::nullopt);                                    \
+      bench_ptr->clear_printer();                                              \
     }                                                                          \
     printer.print_log_epilogue();                                              \
     printer.print_benchmark_results(benchmarks);                               \