diff --git a/src/wallet/db.h b/src/wallet/db.h
--- a/src/wallet/db.h
+++ b/src/wallet/db.h
@@ -227,8 +227,9 @@
         Dbt m_dbt;
 
     public:
-        // construct Dbt with data or flags
-        SafeDbt(u_int32_t flags = 0);
+        // construct Dbt with internally-managed data
+        SafeDbt();
+        // construct Dbt with provided data
         SafeDbt(void *data, size_t size);
         ~SafeDbt();
 
@@ -290,7 +291,7 @@
         SafeDbt datKey(ssKey.data(), ssKey.size());
 
         // Read
-        SafeDbt datValue(DB_DBT_MALLOC);
+        SafeDbt datValue;
         int ret = pdb->get(activeTxn, datKey, datValue, 0);
         bool success = false;
         if (datValue.get_data() != nullptr) {
@@ -385,8 +386,8 @@
 
     int ReadAtCursor(Dbc *pcursor, CDataStream &ssKey, CDataStream &ssValue) {
         // Read at cursor
-        SafeDbt datKey(DB_DBT_MALLOC);
-        SafeDbt datValue(DB_DBT_MALLOC);
+        SafeDbt datKey;
+        SafeDbt datValue;
         int ret = pcursor->get(datKey, datValue, DB_NEXT);
         if (ret != 0) {
             return ret;
diff --git a/src/wallet/db.cpp b/src/wallet/db.cpp
--- a/src/wallet/db.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/db.cpp
@@ -324,8 +324,8 @@
     return (fRecovered ? VerifyResult::RECOVER_OK : VerifyResult::RECOVER_FAIL);
 }
 
-BerkeleyBatch::SafeDbt::SafeDbt(u_int32_t flags) {
-    m_dbt.set_flags(flags);
+BerkeleyBatch::SafeDbt::SafeDbt() {
+    m_dbt.set_flags(DB_DBT_MALLOC);
 }
 
 BerkeleyBatch::SafeDbt::SafeDbt(void *data, size_t size) : m_dbt(data, size) {}