diff --git a/source/adios2/core/Engine.h b/source/adios2/core/Engine.h
index c102ef64ba..f91e264b68 100644
--- a/source/adios2/core/Engine.h
+++ b/source/adios2/core/Engine.h
@@ -486,9 +486,10 @@ class Engine
     }
 
     //  in this call, Step is RELATIVE, not absolute
-    virtual Dims *VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const
+    virtual bool VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step,
+                          Dims &Shape) const
     {
-        return nullptr;
+        return false;
     }
 
     virtual bool VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step,
diff --git a/source/adios2/core/VariableBase.cpp b/source/adios2/core/VariableBase.cpp
index c12e017859..684f15356e 100644
--- a/source/adios2/core/VariableBase.cpp
+++ b/source/adios2/core/VariableBase.cpp
@@ -628,12 +628,10 @@ Dims VariableBase::Shape(const size_t step) const
 
     if (m_Engine)
     {
+        Dims tmp;
         // see if the engine implements Variable Shape inquiry
-        auto ShapePtr = m_Engine->VarShape(*this, step);
-        if (ShapePtr)
-        {
-            return *ShapePtr;
-        }
+        if (m_Engine->VarShape(*this, step, tmp))
+            return tmp;
     }
     if (m_FirstStreamingStep && step == adios2::EngineCurrentStep)
     {
diff --git a/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.cpp b/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.cpp
index f82ca482f1..80034dedba 100644
--- a/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.cpp
+++ b/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.cpp
@@ -684,9 +684,10 @@ MinVarInfo *BP5Reader::MinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &Var,
     return m_BP5Deserializer->MinBlocksInfo(Var, Step);
 }
 
-Dims *BP5Reader::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step) const
+bool BP5Reader::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
+                         Dims &Shape) const
 {
-    return m_BP5Deserializer->VarShape(Var, Step);
+    return m_BP5Deserializer->VarShape(Var, Step, Shape);
 }
 
 bool BP5Reader::VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
diff --git a/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.h b/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.h
index 6b947764b3..b8cd74d4b3 100644
--- a/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.h
+++ b/source/adios2/engine/bp5/BP5Reader.h
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ class BP5Reader : public BP5Engine, public Engine
     void PerformGets() final;
 
     MinVarInfo *MinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const;
-    Dims *VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const;
+    bool VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
+                  Dims &Shape) const;
     bool VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step,
                         MinMaxStruct &MinMax);
 
diff --git a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
index cb11ca971d..7628fd2b2f 100644
--- a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
+++ b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
@@ -691,12 +691,13 @@ void SstReader::DoGetStructDeferred(VariableStruct &variable, void *data)
     m_BP5Deserializer->QueueGet(variable, data);
 }
 
-Dims *SstReader::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step) const
+bool SstReader::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
+                         Dims &Shape) const
 {
     if (m_WriterMarshalMethod != SstMarshalBP5)
-        return nullptr;
+        return false;
 
-    return m_BP5Deserializer->VarShape(Var, Step);
+    return m_BP5Deserializer->VarShape(Var, Step, Shape);
 }
 
 bool SstReader::VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
diff --git a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.h b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.h
index 2e5bfe2d32..e612a12c6f 100644
--- a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.h
+++ b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.h
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ class SstReader : public Engine
     void PerformGets();
     void Flush(const int transportIndex = -1) final;
     MinVarInfo *MinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const;
-    Dims *VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const;
+    bool VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
+                  Dims &Shape) const;
     bool VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step,
                         MinMaxStruct &MinMax);
 
diff --git a/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.cpp b/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.cpp
index 1bf2681cb1..b7edfc9e50 100644
--- a/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.cpp
+++ b/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.cpp
@@ -498,6 +498,7 @@ void *BP5Deserializer::VarSetup(core::Engine *engine, const char *variableName,
     {                                                                          \
         core::Variable<T> *variable =                                          \
             &(engine->m_IO.DefineVariable<T>(variableName));                   \
+        engine->RegisterCreatedVariable(variable);                             \
         variable->SetData((T *)data);                                          \
         variable->m_AvailableStepsCount = 1;                                   \
         return (void *)variable;                                               \
@@ -547,6 +548,7 @@ void *BP5Deserializer::ArrayVarSetup(core::Engine *engine,
     {
         core::VariableStruct *variable = &(engine->m_IO.DefineStructVariable(
             variableName, *Def, VecShape, VecStart, VecCount));
+        engine->RegisterCreatedVariable(variable);
         variable->m_ReadStructDefinition = ReaderDef;
         return (void *)variable;
     }
@@ -555,6 +557,7 @@ void *BP5Deserializer::ArrayVarSetup(core::Engine *engine,
     {                                                                          \
         core::Variable<T> *variable =                                          \
             &(engine->m_IO.DefineVariable<T>(variableName));                   \
+        engine->RegisterCreatedVariable(variable);                             \
         variable->m_Shape = VecShape;                                          \
         variable->m_Start = VecStart;                                          \
         variable->m_Count = VecCount;                                          \
@@ -2100,13 +2103,13 @@ void BP5Deserializer::GetAbsoluteSteps(const VariableBase &Var,
     }
 }
 
-Dims *BP5Deserializer::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var,
-                                const size_t RelStep) const
+bool BP5Deserializer::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t RelStep,
+                               Dims &Shape) const
 {
     BP5VarRec *VarRec = LookupVarByKey((void *)&Var);
     if (VarRec->OrigShapeID != ShapeID::GlobalArray)
     {
-        return nullptr;
+        return false;
     }
     size_t AbsStep = RelStep;
     if (m_RandomAccessMode)
@@ -2127,16 +2130,15 @@ Dims *BP5Deserializer::VarShape(const VariableBase &Var,
             (MetaArrayRec *)GetMetadataBase(VarRec, AbsStep, WriterRank);
         if (writer_meta_base && writer_meta_base->Shape)
         {
-            Dims *Shape = new Dims();
-            Shape->reserve(writer_meta_base->Dims);
+            Shape.resize(writer_meta_base->Dims);
             for (size_t i = 0; i < writer_meta_base->Dims; i++)
             {
-                Shape->push_back(writer_meta_base->Shape[i]);
+                Shape[i] = writer_meta_base->Shape[i];
             }
-            return Shape;
+            return true;
         }
     }
-    return nullptr;
+    return false;
 }
 
 bool BP5Deserializer::VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step,
diff --git a/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.h b/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.h
index 81579d835e..f662695c3c 100644
--- a/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.h
+++ b/source/adios2/toolkit/format/bp5/BP5Deserializer.h
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class BP5Deserializer : virtual public BP5Base
     MinVarInfo *AllRelativeStepsMinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &var);
     MinVarInfo *AllStepsMinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &var);
     MinVarInfo *MinBlocksInfo(const VariableBase &Var, const size_t Step);
-    Dims *VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step) const;
+    bool VarShape(const VariableBase &, const size_t Step, Dims &Shape) const;
     bool VariableMinMax(const VariableBase &var, const size_t Step,
                         MinMaxStruct &MinMax);
     void GetAbsoluteSteps(const VariableBase &variable,
diff --git a/testing/adios2/engine/staging-common/TestCommonRead.cpp b/testing/adios2/engine/staging-common/TestCommonRead.cpp
index 6639c70db9..867cdce32e 100644
--- a/testing/adios2/engine/staging-common/TestCommonRead.cpp
+++ b/testing/adios2/engine/staging-common/TestCommonRead.cpp
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ TEST_F(CommonReadTest, ADIOS2CommonRead1D8)
         }
         ts = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
         adios2::StepStatus status = engine.BeginStep();
+        auto av = io.AvailableVariables();
+
         Seconds timeBeginStep = std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - ts;
         begin_statuses.push_back(status);
         begin_times.push_back(timeBeginStep);