diff --git a/modules/cpu/camera/Camera.h b/modules/cpu/camera/Camera.h
index 4002befd0..b93d50f1f 100644
--- a/modules/cpu/camera/Camera.h
+++ b/modules/cpu/camera/Camera.h
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ struct OSPRAY_SDK_INTERFACE Camera
   // Data members //
 
   // if motionBlur in local camera space; otherwise in world-space:
-  vec3f pos; // position of the camera
-  vec3f dir; // main direction of the camera
-  vec3f up; // up direction of the camera
+  vec3f pos{0.f, 0.f, 0.f}; // position of the camera
+  vec3f dir{0.f, 0.f, 1.f}; // main direction of the camera
+  vec3f up{0.f, 1.f, 0.f}; // up direction of the camera
 
   float nearClip{1e-6f}; // near clipping distance
   // definition of the image region, may even be outside of [0..1]^2
diff --git a/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.cpp b/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.cpp
index 3b5ce887e..10cc3b27a 100644
--- a/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.cpp
+++ b/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.cpp
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ SparseFrameBuffer::SparseFrameBuffer(api::ISPCDevice &device,
         FFO_FB_SPARSE),
       device(device),
       useTaskAccumIDs((channels & OSP_FB_ACCUM) || overrideUseTaskAccumIDs),
-      totalTiles(divRoundUp(size, vec2i(TILE_SIZE))),
-      numRenderTasks(0)
+      totalTiles(divRoundUp(size, vec2i(TILE_SIZE)))
 {
   if (size.x <= 0 || size.y <= 0) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
diff --git a/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.h b/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.h
index 8b0cc69ef..41531fdbb 100644
--- a/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.h
+++ b/modules/cpu/fb/SparseFB.h
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ struct OSPRAY_SDK_INTERFACE SparseFrameBuffer
 
   // Total number of render tasks that the framebuffer is divided into,
   // including those not owned by this sparsefb
-  vec2i numRenderTasks;
+  vec2i numRenderTasks{0};
 
   // holds error per task for each tile, stored in tiled order.
   // The SparseFB doesn't do its own error refinement since it doesn't have
diff --git a/modules/mpi/common/maml/Context.cpp b/modules/mpi/common/maml/Context.cpp
index 8f3acbbe9..ec20cda6a 100644
--- a/modules/mpi/common/maml/Context.cpp
+++ b/modules/mpi/common/maml/Context.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <iostream>
 
+#include "common/OSPCommon.h"
 #include "rkcommon/memory/malloc.h"
 #include "rkcommon/tasking/async.h"
 #include "rkcommon/tasking/tasking_system_init.h"
@@ -30,7 +31,11 @@ Context::Context(bool enableCompression) : compressMessages(enableCompression)
 
 Context::~Context()
 {
-  stop();
+  try {
+    stop();
+  } catch (const std::exception &e) {
+    ospray::handleError(OSP_UNKNOWN_ERROR, e.what());
+  }
 }
 
 /*! register a new incoing-message handler. if any message comes in
diff --git a/modules/mpi/ospray/MPIOffloadDevice.cpp b/modules/mpi/ospray/MPIOffloadDevice.cpp
index b7dd3fd02..428547492 100644
--- a/modules/mpi/ospray/MPIOffloadDevice.cpp
+++ b/modules/mpi/ospray/MPIOffloadDevice.cpp
@@ -189,24 +189,29 @@ void createMPI_ListenForClient(
 
 MPIOffloadDevice::~MPIOffloadDevice()
 {
-  if (dynamic_cast<MPIFabric *>(fabric.get()) && world.rank == 0) {
-    postStatusMsg(OSP_LOG_INFO) << "shutting down mpi device";
-
-    sendWork([](networking::WriteStream &writer) { writer << work::FINALIZE; },
-        true);
-    fabric = nullptr;
-    maml::shutdown();
-
-    MPI_Finalize();
-
-    RKCOMMON_IF_TRACING_ENABLED({
-      char hostname[512] = {0};
-      gethostname(hostname, 511);
-      const std::string masterTraceFile =
-          std::string(hostname) + "_master.json";
-      rkcommon::tracing::saveLog(
-          masterTraceFile.c_str(), masterTraceFile.c_str());
-    });
+  try {
+    if (dynamic_cast<MPIFabric *>(fabric.get()) && world.rank == 0) {
+      postStatusMsg(OSP_LOG_INFO) << "shutting down mpi device";
+
+      sendWork(
+          [](networking::WriteStream &writer) { writer << work::FINALIZE; },
+          true);
+      fabric = nullptr;
+      maml::shutdown();
+
+      MPI_Finalize();
+
+      RKCOMMON_IF_TRACING_ENABLED({
+        char hostname[512] = {0};
+        gethostname(hostname, 511);
+        const std::string masterTraceFile =
+            std::string(hostname) + "_master.json";
+        rkcommon::tracing::saveLog(
+            masterTraceFile.c_str(), masterTraceFile.c_str());
+      });
+    }
+  } catch (const std::exception &e) {
+    handleError(OSP_UNKNOWN_ERROR, e.what());
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/ospray/common/Managed.cpp b/ospray/common/Managed.cpp
index 918327ab4..5fb901aa8 100644
--- a/ospray/common/Managed.cpp
+++ b/ospray/common/Managed.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ManagedObject::~ManagedObject()
 {
   std::for_each(params_begin(), params_end(), [&](std::shared_ptr<Param> &p) {
     auto &param = *p;
-    if (param.data.is<OSP_PTR>()) {
+    if (param.data.valid() && param.data.is<OSP_PTR>()) {
       auto *obj = param.data.get<OSP_PTR>();
       if (obj != nullptr)
         obj->refDec();