diff --git a/compositor/FlatteningController.cpp b/compositor/FlatteningController.cpp
index 3cae6e3..3257aff 100644
--- a/compositor/FlatteningController.cpp
+++ b/compositor/FlatteningController.cpp
@@ -39,18 +39,12 @@ namespace android::drm_hwcomposer {
 
 auto FlatteningController::CreateInstance(FlatConCallbacks &cbks)
     -> std::shared_ptr<FlatteningController> {
-  auto fc = std::shared_ptr<FlatteningController>(new FlatteningController());
+  return std::shared_ptr<FlatteningController>(new FlatteningController(cbks));
+}
 
-  /* Disable the controller by default as it can cause refresh event to be
-   * issued at creation time, even when it is not required. This can fail VTS
-   * tests at teardown that check for this behaviour. See:
-   * https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/cedca652b903e4f4e584e457b5a7038e0825fb94:hardware/interfaces/graphics/composer/aidl/vts/VtsComposerClient.cpp;drc=a2a6deaf5036e081f48379b6573db4465538b5ac;l=604
-   */
-  fc->Disable();
-  fc->cbks_ = cbks;
-  fc->thread_ = std::thread(&FlatteningController::ThreadFn, fc.get());
-
-  return fc;
+FlatteningController::FlatteningController(FlatConCallbacks callbacks)
+    : cbks_(std::move(callbacks)) {
+  thread_ = std::thread(&FlatteningController::ThreadFn, this);
 }
 
 /* Compositor should call this every frame */
diff --git a/compositor/FlatteningController.h b/compositor/FlatteningController.h
index 8bd3e35..d4725dd 100644
--- a/compositor/FlatteningController.h
+++ b/compositor/FlatteningController.h
@@ -61,11 +61,16 @@ class FlatteningController {
   static constexpr auto kTimeout = 1s;
 
  private:
-  FlatteningController() = default;
+  explicit FlatteningController(FlatConCallbacks callbacks);
   void ThreadFn();
 
-  bool flatten_next_frame_{};
-  bool disabled_{};
+  /* Disable the controller by default as it can cause refresh event to be
+   * issued at creation time, even when it is not required. This can fail VTS
+   * tests at teardown that check for this behaviour. See:
+   * https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/cedca652b903e4f4e584e457b5a7038e0825fb94:hardware/interfaces/graphics/composer/aidl/vts/VtsComposerClient.cpp;drc=a2a6deaf5036e081f48379b6573db4465538b5ac;l=604
+   */
+  bool flatten_next_frame_ = false;
+  bool disabled_ = true;
   decltype(std::chrono::system_clock::now()) sleep_until_{};
   std::thread thread_;
   std::mutex mutex_;