diff --git a/src/lib/definition.cpp b/src/lib/definition.cpp
--- a/src/lib/definition.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/definition.cpp
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@
             case QXmlStreamReader::StartElement:
                 if (reader.name() == QLatin1String("itemData")) {
                     Format f;
-                    auto formatData = FormatPrivate::get(f);
+                    auto formatData = FormatPrivate::detachAndGet(f);
                     formatData->definition = q;
                     formatData->load(reader);
                     formatData->id = RepositoryPrivate::get(repo)->nextFormatId();
diff --git a/src/lib/format.cpp b/src/lib/format.cpp
--- a/src/lib/format.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/format.cpp
@@ -52,8 +52,9 @@
     return static_cast<Theme::TextStyle>(value);
 }
 
-FormatPrivate* FormatPrivate::get(const Format &format)
+FormatPrivate* FormatPrivate::detachAndGet(Format &format)
 {
+    format.d.detach();
     return format.d.data();
 }
 
@@ -65,7 +66,13 @@
     return TextStyleData();
 }
 
-Format::Format() : d(new FormatPrivate)
+static QExplicitlySharedDataPointer<FormatPrivate> &sharedDefaultPrivate()
+{
+    static QExplicitlySharedDataPointer<FormatPrivate> def(new FormatPrivate);
+    return def;
+}
+
+Format::Format() : d(sharedDefaultPrivate())
 {
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/format_p.h b/src/lib/format_p.h
--- a/src/lib/format_p.h
+++ b/src/lib/format_p.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 {
 public:
     FormatPrivate() = default;
-    static FormatPrivate* get(const Format &format);
+    static FormatPrivate* detachAndGet(Format &format);
 
     TextStyleData styleOverride(const Theme &theme) const;
     void load(QXmlStreamReader &reader);