diff --git a/src/bucket/BucketManager.cpp b/src/bucket/BucketManager.cpp
index 209d828caa..9aecee8713 100644
--- a/src/bucket/BucketManager.cpp
+++ b/src/bucket/BucketManager.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "ledger/LedgerManager.h"
 #include "ledger/LedgerTxn.h"
 #include "ledger/LedgerTypeUtils.h"
+#include "ledger/NetworkConfig.h"
 #include "main/Application.h"
 #include "main/Config.h"
 #include "util/Fs.h"
@@ -1080,7 +1081,7 @@ EvictedStateVectors
 BucketManager::resolveBackgroundEvictionScan(
     AbstractLedgerTxn& ltx, uint32_t ledgerSeq,
     LedgerKeySet const& modifiedKeys, uint32_t ledgerVers,
-    SorobanNetworkConfig& networkConfig)
+    SorobanNetworkConfig const& networkConfig)
 {
     ZoneScoped;
     releaseAssert(mEvictionStatistics);
diff --git a/src/bucket/BucketManager.h b/src/bucket/BucketManager.h
index d17517838f..32043b8870 100644
--- a/src/bucket/BucketManager.h
+++ b/src/bucket/BucketManager.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class BucketSnapshotManager;
 class SearchableLiveBucketListSnapshot;
 struct BucketEntryCounters;
 enum class LedgerEntryTypeAndDurability : uint32_t;
+class SorobanNetworkConfig;
 
 struct HistoryArchiveState;
 
@@ -307,7 +308,7 @@ class BucketManager : NonMovableOrCopyable
     resolveBackgroundEvictionScan(AbstractLedgerTxn& ltx, uint32_t ledgerSeq,
                                   LedgerKeySet const& modifiedKeys,
                                   uint32_t ledgerVers,
-                                  SorobanNetworkConfig& networkConfig);
+                                  SorobanNetworkConfig const& networkConfig);
 
     medida::Meter& getBloomMissMeter() const;
     medida::Meter& getBloomLookupMeter() const;
diff --git a/src/bucket/LiveBucketList.h b/src/bucket/LiveBucketList.h
index 688f0acd22..c78f4bc22b 100644
--- a/src/bucket/LiveBucketList.h
+++ b/src/bucket/LiveBucketList.h
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 namespace stellar
 {
 
-class SorobanNetworkConfig;
-
 // The LiveBucketList stores the current canonical state of the ledger. It is
 // made up of LiveBucket buckets, which in turn store individual entries of type
 // BucketEntry. When an entry is "evicted" from the ledger, it is removed from
diff --git a/src/bucket/test/BucketListTests.cpp b/src/bucket/test/BucketListTests.cpp
index 5dfb6572f6..0a5b545097 100644
--- a/src/bucket/test/BucketListTests.cpp
+++ b/src/bucket/test/BucketListTests.cpp
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ TEST_CASE_VERSIONS("network config snapshots BucketList size", "[bucketlist]")
         LedgerManagerForBucketTests& lm = app->getLedgerManager();
 
         auto& networkConfig =
-            app->getLedgerManager().getMutableSorobanNetworkConfig();
+            app->getLedgerManager().getSorobanNetworkConfigReadOnly();
 
         uint32_t windowSize = networkConfig.stateArchivalSettings()
                                   .bucketListSizeWindowSampleSize;
diff --git a/src/bucket/test/BucketTestUtils.cpp b/src/bucket/test/BucketTestUtils.cpp
index 34122c63d2..ea6d0f351f 100644
--- a/src/bucket/test/BucketTestUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/bucket/test/BucketTestUtils.cpp
@@ -101,10 +101,6 @@ closeLedger(Application& app, std::optional<SecretKey> skToSignValue,
     app.getHerder().externalizeValue(TxSetXDRFrame::makeEmpty(lcl), ledgerNum,
                                      lcl.header.scpValue.closeTime, upgrades,
                                      skToSignValue);
-    testutil::crankUntil(
-        app,
-        [&lm, ledgerNum]() { return lm.getLastClosedLedgerNum() == ledgerNum; },
-        std::chrono::seconds(10));
     return lm.getLastClosedLedgerHeader().hash;
 }
 
@@ -238,7 +234,7 @@ LedgerManagerForBucketTests::transferLedgerEntriesToBucketList(
                     mApp.getBucketManager().resolveBackgroundEvictionScan(
                         ltxEvictions, lh.ledgerSeq, keys, initialLedgerVers,
                         mApp.getLedgerManager()
-                            .getMutableSorobanNetworkConfig());
+                            .getSorobanNetworkConfigForApply());
 
                 if (protocolVersionStartsFrom(
                         initialLedgerVers,
diff --git a/src/catchup/CatchupWork.cpp b/src/catchup/CatchupWork.cpp
index 89fc839791..dc46ae37c6 100644
--- a/src/catchup/CatchupWork.cpp
+++ b/src/catchup/CatchupWork.cpp
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ CatchupWork::runCatchupStep()
                 // In this case we should actually have been caught-up during
                 // the replay process and, if judged successful, our LCL should
                 // be the one provided as well.
-                auto lastClosed =
+                auto& lastClosed =
                     mApp.getLedgerManager().getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
                 releaseAssert(mLastApplied.hash == lastClosed.hash);
                 releaseAssert(mLastApplied.header == lastClosed.header);
diff --git a/src/database/Database.h b/src/database/Database.h
index e58391b7a6..f96062a418 100644
--- a/src/database/Database.h
+++ b/src/database/Database.h
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ class Database : NonMovableOrCopyable
     // Save `vers` as schema version.
     void putSchemaVersion(unsigned long vers);
 
+    // Prepared statements cache may be accessed by mutliple threads (each using
+    // a different session), so use a mutex to synchronize access.
     std::mutex mutable mStatementsMutex;
 
   public:
diff --git a/src/herder/HerderImpl.cpp b/src/herder/HerderImpl.cpp
index a3ab30b28b..61ccf80497 100644
--- a/src/herder/HerderImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/herder/HerderImpl.cpp
@@ -480,6 +480,17 @@ HerderImpl::valueExternalized(uint64 slotIndex, StellarValue const& value,
 
         // Check to see if quorums have changed and we need to reanalyze.
         checkAndMaybeReanalyzeQuorumMap();
+
+        // heart beat *after* doing all the work (ensures that we do not include
+        // the overhead of externalization in the way we track SCP)
+        // Note: this only makes sense in the context of synchronous ledger
+        // application on the main thread.
+        if (!mApp.getConfig().parallelLedgerClose())
+        {
+            // heart beat *after* doing all the work (ensures that we do not
+            // include the overhead of externalization in the way we track SCP)
+            trackingHeartBeat();
+        }
     }
     else
     {
@@ -1156,7 +1167,7 @@ HerderImpl::lastClosedLedgerIncreased(bool latest, TxSetXDRFrameConstPtr txSet)
     {
         // Re-start heartbeat tracking _after_ applying the most up-to-date
         // ledger. This guarantees out-of-sync timer won't fire while we have
-        // ledgers to apply.
+        // ledgers to apply (applicable during parallel ledger close).
         trackingHeartBeat();
 
         // Ensure out of sync recovery did not get triggered while we were
@@ -1369,6 +1380,8 @@ HerderImpl::triggerNextLedger(uint32_t ledgerSeqToTrigger,
     // If applying, the next ledger will trigger voting
     if (mLedgerManager.isApplying())
     {
+        // This can only happen when closing ledgers in parallel
+        releaseAssert(mApp.getConfig().parallelLedgerClose());
         CLOG_DEBUG(Herder, "triggerNextLedger: skipping (applying) : {}",
                    mApp.getStateHuman());
         return;
@@ -1560,7 +1573,7 @@ HerderImpl::getUpgradesJson()
 void
 HerderImpl::forceSCPStateIntoSyncWithLastClosedLedger()
 {
-    auto header = mLedgerManager.getLastClosedLedgerHeader().header;
+    auto const& header = mLedgerManager.getLastClosedLedgerHeader().header;
     setTrackingSCPState(header.ledgerSeq, header.scpValue,
                         /* isTrackingNetwork */ true);
 }
@@ -2360,7 +2373,7 @@ HerderImpl::herderOutOfSync()
     // are no ledgers queued to be applied. If there are ledgers queued, it's
     // possible the rest of the network is waiting for this node to vote. In
     // this case we should _still_ remain in tracking and emit nomination; If
-    // the nodes does not hear anything from the network after that, then node
+    // the node does not hear anything from the network after that, then node
     // can go into out of sync recovery.
     releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
     releaseAssert(!mLedgerManager.isApplying());
diff --git a/src/herder/HerderSCPDriver.cpp b/src/herder/HerderSCPDriver.cpp
index 13f5bde947..89e3fddd14 100644
--- a/src/herder/HerderSCPDriver.cpp
+++ b/src/herder/HerderSCPDriver.cpp
@@ -221,15 +221,15 @@ HerderSCPDriver::validateValueHelper(uint64_t slotIndex, StellarValue const& b,
         }
     }
 
-    auto lhhe = mLedgerManager.getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
+    auto const& lcl = mLedgerManager.getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
     // when checking close time, start with what we have locally
-    lastCloseTime = lhhe.header.scpValue.closeTime;
+    lastCloseTime = lcl.header.scpValue.closeTime;
 
     // if this value is not for our local state,
     // perform as many checks as we can
-    if (slotIndex != (lhhe.header.ledgerSeq + 1))
+    if (slotIndex != (lcl.header.ledgerSeq + 1))
     {
-        if (slotIndex == lhhe.header.ledgerSeq)
+        if (slotIndex == lcl.header.ledgerSeq)
         {
             // previous ledger
             if (b.closeTime != lastCloseTime)
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ HerderSCPDriver::validateValueHelper(uint64_t slotIndex, StellarValue const& b,
                 return SCPDriver::kInvalidValue;
             }
         }
-        else if (slotIndex < lhhe.header.ledgerSeq)
+        else if (slotIndex < lcl.header.ledgerSeq)
         {
             // basic sanity check on older value
             if (b.closeTime >= lastCloseTime)
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ HerderSCPDriver::validateValueHelper(uint64_t slotIndex, StellarValue const& b,
 
         res = SCPDriver::kInvalidValue;
     }
-    else if (!checkAndCacheTxSetValid(*txSet, lhhe, closeTimeOffset))
+    else if (!checkAndCacheTxSetValid(*txSet, lcl, closeTimeOffset))
     {
         CLOG_DEBUG(Herder,
                    "HerderSCPDriver::validateValue i: {} invalid txSet {}",
@@ -614,6 +614,7 @@ HerderSCPDriver::combineCandidates(uint64_t slotIndex,
     std::set<TransactionFramePtr> aggSet;
 
     releaseAssert(!mLedgerManager.isApplying());
+    releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
     auto const& lcl = mLedgerManager.getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
 
     Hash candidatesHash;
diff --git a/src/herder/TxSetFrame.cpp b/src/herder/TxSetFrame.cpp
index dce3cef463..72b58598bc 100644
--- a/src/herder/TxSetFrame.cpp
+++ b/src/herder/TxSetFrame.cpp
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ phaseTxsAreValid(TxSetTransactions const& phase, Application& app,
                  uint64_t upperBoundCloseTimeOffset)
 {
     ZoneScoped;
+    releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
     // This is done so minSeqLedgerGap is validated against the next
     // ledgerSeq, which is what will be used at apply time
 
diff --git a/src/invariant/BucketListIsConsistentWithDatabase.cpp b/src/invariant/BucketListIsConsistentWithDatabase.cpp
index 529077e721..d16a9bcdf3 100644
--- a/src/invariant/BucketListIsConsistentWithDatabase.cpp
+++ b/src/invariant/BucketListIsConsistentWithDatabase.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 #include "bucket/BucketManager.h"
 #include "bucket/LiveBucket.h"
 #include "bucket/LiveBucketList.h"
-#include "crypto/Hex.h"
 #include "database/Database.h"
 #include "history/HistoryArchive.h"
 #include "invariant/InvariantManager.h"
diff --git a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
index f61f0f8207..511702729b 100644
--- a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::startNewLedger(LedgerHeader const& genesisLedger)
     CLOG_INFO(Ledger, "Root account seed: {}", skey.getStrKeySeed().value);
     auto output =
         ledgerClosed(ltx, /*ledgerCloseMeta*/ nullptr, /*initialLedgerVers*/ 0);
-    updateCurrentLedgerState(output);
+    advanceLedgerPointers(output);
 
     ltx.commit();
 }
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::loadLastKnownLedger(bool restoreBucketlist)
     }
 
     // Step 4. Restore LedgerManager's internal state
-    auto output = advanceLedgerPointers(*latestLedgerHeader, has);
-    updateCurrentLedgerState(output);
+    auto output = advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(*latestLedgerHeader, has);
+    advanceLedgerPointers(output);
 
     // Maybe truncate checkpoint files if we're restarting after a crash
     // in closeLedger (in which case any modifications to the ledger state have
@@ -766,7 +766,10 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::ledgerCloseComplete(uint32_t lcl, bool calledViaExternalize,
         releaseAssert(latestQueuedToApply <= latestHeardFromNetwork);
     }
 
-    if (lcl == latestQueuedToApply)
+    // Without parallel ledger close, this should always be true
+    bool doneApplying = lcl == latestQueuedToApply;
+    releaseAssert(doneApplying || mApp.getConfig().parallelLedgerClose());
+    if (doneApplying)
     {
         mCurrentlyApplyingLedger = false;
     }
@@ -816,8 +819,18 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::closeLedger(LedgerCloseData const& ledgerData,
 
     LedgerTxn ltx(mApp.getLedgerTxnRoot());
     auto header = ltx.loadHeader();
-    auto prevHeader =
-        threadIsMain() ? getLastClosedLedgerHeader().header : header.current();
+    // Note: closeLedger should be able to work correctly based on ledger header
+    // stored in LedgerTxn. The issue is that in tests LedgerTxn is somtimes
+    // modified manually, which changes ledger header hash compared to the
+    // cached one and causes tests to fail.
+    LedgerHeader prevHeader = header.current();
+#ifdef BUILD_TESTS
+    if (mApp.getConfig().MODE_USES_IN_MEMORY_LEDGER)
+    {
+        releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
+        prevHeader = getLastClosedLedgerHeader().header;
+    }
+#endif
     auto prevHash = xdrSha256(prevHeader);
 
     auto initialLedgerVers = header.current().ledgerVersion;
@@ -830,7 +843,8 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::closeLedger(LedgerCloseData const& ledgerData,
 
     auto now = mApp.getClock().now();
     mLedgerAgeClosed.Update(now - mLastClose);
-    // mLastClose is only accessed by a single thread
+    // mLastClose is only accessed by a single thread, so no synchronization
+    // needed
     mLastClose = now;
     mLedgerAge.set_count(0);
 
@@ -1016,7 +1030,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::closeLedger(LedgerCloseData const& ledgerData,
         emitNextMeta();
     }
 
-    // The next 5 steps happen in a relatively non-obvious, subtle order.
+    // The next 7 steps happen in a relatively non-obvious, subtle order.
     // This is unfortunate and it would be nice if we could make it not
     // be so subtle, but for the time being this is where we are.
     //
@@ -1075,7 +1089,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::closeLedger(LedgerCloseData const& ledgerData,
         [this, txs, ledgerSeq, calledViaExternalize, ledgerData,
          ledgerOutput = std::move(closeLedgerResult)]() mutable {
             releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
-            updateCurrentLedgerState(ledgerOutput);
+            advanceLedgerPointers(ledgerOutput);
 
             // Step 5. Maybe kick off publishing on complete checkpoint files
             auto& hm = mApp.getHistoryManager();
@@ -1144,7 +1158,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::setLastClosedLedger(
     ltx.commit();
 
     mRebuildInMemoryState = false;
-    updateCurrentLedgerState(advanceLedgerPointers(lastClosed.header, has));
+    advanceLedgerPointers(advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(lastClosed.header, has));
 
     LedgerTxn ltx2(mApp.getLedgerTxnRoot());
     if (protocolVersionStartsFrom(ltx2.loadHeader().current().ledgerVersion,
@@ -1167,8 +1181,8 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::manuallyAdvanceLedgerHeader(LedgerHeader const& header)
     has.fromString(mApp.getPersistentState().getState(
         PersistentState::kHistoryArchiveState,
         mApp.getDatabase().getSession()));
-    auto output = advanceLedgerPointers(header, has, false);
-    updateCurrentLedgerState(output);
+    auto output = advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(header, has);
+    advanceLedgerPointers(output);
 }
 
 void
@@ -1315,7 +1329,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::getCurrentLedgerStateSnaphot()
 }
 
 void
-LedgerManagerImpl::updateCurrentLedgerState(CloseLedgerOutput const& output)
+LedgerManagerImpl::advanceLedgerPointers(CloseLedgerOutput const& output)
 {
     releaseAssert(threadIsMain());
     CLOG_DEBUG(
@@ -1330,9 +1344,8 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::updateCurrentLedgerState(CloseLedgerOutput const& output)
 }
 
 LedgerManagerImpl::CloseLedgerOutput
-LedgerManagerImpl::advanceLedgerPointers(LedgerHeader const& header,
-                                         HistoryArchiveState const& has,
-                                         bool debugLog)
+LedgerManagerImpl::advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(LedgerHeader const& header,
+                                              HistoryArchiveState const& has)
 {
     auto ledgerHash = xdrSha256(header);
 
@@ -1839,7 +1852,7 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::ledgerClosed(
         mApp.getBucketManager().snapshotLedger(lh);
         auto has = storeCurrentLedger(lh, /* storeHeader */ true,
                                       /* appendToCheckpoint */ true);
-        res = advanceLedgerPointers(lh, has);
+        res = advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(lh, has);
     });
 
     return res;
diff --git a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
index 20eaae711f..6f50381c6e 100644
--- a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
+++ b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
     std::filesystem::path mMetaDebugPath;
 
   private:
-    // Cache LCL state, updates once a ledger (synchronized with
-    // mLedgerStateMutex)
+    // Cache LCL state, accessible only from main thread
     LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry mLastClosedLedger;
 
     // Read-only Soroban network configuration, accessible by main thread only.
@@ -74,6 +73,8 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
     // variable is not synchronized, since it should only be used by one thread
     // (main or ledger close).
     std::shared_ptr<SorobanNetworkConfig> mSorobanNetworkConfigForApply;
+
+    // Cache most recent HAS, accessible only from main thread
     HistoryArchiveState mLastClosedLedgerHAS;
 
     SorobanMetrics mSorobanMetrics;
@@ -94,13 +95,15 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
     bool mRebuildInMemoryState{false};
     SearchableSnapshotConstPtr mReadOnlyLedgerStateSnapshot;
 
-    // Use mutex to guard read access to LCL and Soroban network config
+    // Use mutex to guard ledger state during apply
     mutable std::recursive_mutex mLedgerStateMutex;
 
     medida::Timer& mCatchupDuration;
 
     std::unique_ptr<LedgerCloseMetaFrame> mNextMetaToEmit;
 
+    // Use in the context of parallel ledger close to indicate background thread
+    // is currently closing a ledger or has ledgers queued to apply.
     bool mCurrentlyApplyingLedger{false};
 
     static std::vector<MutableTxResultPtr> processFeesSeqNums(
@@ -150,7 +153,8 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
     // as the actual ledger usage.
     void publishSorobanMetrics();
 
-    void updateCurrentLedgerState(CloseLedgerOutput const& output);
+    // Update cached ledger state values managed by this class.
+    void advanceLedgerPointers(CloseLedgerOutput const& output);
 
   protected:
     // initialLedgerVers must be the ledger version at the start of the ledger
@@ -166,11 +170,12 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
         std::unique_ptr<LedgerCloseMetaFrame> const& ledgerCloseMeta,
         LedgerHeader lh, uint32_t initialLedgerVers);
 
-    // Update in-memory cached LCL state (this only happens at the end of ledger
-    // close)
-    CloseLedgerOutput advanceLedgerPointers(LedgerHeader const& header,
-                                            HistoryArchiveState const& has,
-                                            bool debugLog = true);
+    // Update ledger state snapshot, and construct CloseLedgerOutput return
+    // value, which contains all information relevant to ledger state (HAS,
+    // ledger header, network config, bucketlist snapshot).
+    CloseLedgerOutput
+    advanceLedgerStateSnapshot(LedgerHeader const& header,
+                               HistoryArchiveState const& has);
     void logTxApplyMetrics(AbstractLedgerTxn& ltx, size_t numTxs,
                            size_t numOps);
 
diff --git a/src/main/AppConnector.cpp b/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
index 904d6396f1..49b24d31c7 100644
--- a/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
+++ b/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ AppConnector::getSorobanNetworkConfigReadOnly() const
 SorobanNetworkConfig const&
 AppConnector::getSorobanNetworkConfigForApply() const
 {
-    // releaseAssert(!threadIsMain() || !mConfig.parallelLedgerClose());
     return mApp.getLedgerManager().getSorobanNetworkConfigForApply();
 }
 
@@ -77,8 +76,6 @@ AppConnector::checkOnOperationApply(Operation const& operation,
                                     OperationResult const& opres,
                                     LedgerTxnDelta const& ltxDelta)
 {
-    // Only one thread can call this method
-    releaseAssert(threadIsMain() || mConfig.parallelLedgerClose());
     mApp.getInvariantManager().checkOnOperationApply(operation, opres,
                                                      ltxDelta);
 }
@@ -142,12 +139,4 @@ AppConnector::checkScheduledAndCache(
 {
     return mApp.getOverlayManager().checkScheduledAndCache(msgTracker);
 }
-
-LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry
-AppConnector::getLastClosedLedgerHeader() const
-{
-    // LCL is thread-safe (it's a copy)
-    return mApp.getLedgerManager().getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
-}
-
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/AppConnector.h b/src/main/AppConnector.h
index 4f2c565982..9cdeb9be30 100644
--- a/src/main/AppConnector.h
+++ b/src/main/AppConnector.h
@@ -57,6 +57,5 @@ class AppConnector
     SorobanNetworkConfig const& getSorobanNetworkConfigForApply() const;
 
     medida::MetricsRegistry& getMetrics() const;
-    LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry getLastClosedLedgerHeader() const;
 };
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
index 022f09785f..c39db76013 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ ApplicationImpl::~ApplicationImpl()
     try
     {
         // First, shutdown ledger close queue _before_ shutting down all the
-        // subsystems This ensures that any ledger currently being closed
+        // subsystems. This ensures that any ledger currently being closed
         // finishes okay
         shutdownLedgerCloseThread();
         shutdownWorkScheduler();
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
index 81c0cacc13..54476fe79a 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ setAuthenticatedLedgerHashPair(Application::pointer app,
 
     if (lm.isSynced())
     {
-        auto lhe = lm.getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
+        auto const& lhe = lm.getLastClosedLedgerHeader();
         tryCheckpoint(lhe.header.ledgerSeq, lhe.hash);
     }
     else