diff --git a/gtsam/inference/BayesTree-inst.h b/gtsam/inference/BayesTree-inst.h
index fdfa94d2b..0648a90f6 100644
--- a/gtsam/inference/BayesTree-inst.h
+++ b/gtsam/inference/BayesTree-inst.h
@@ -196,21 +196,20 @@ namespace gtsam {
     for (auto&& root: roots_) {
       std::queue<sharedClique> bfs_queue;
       
-      // first, move the root to the queue
-      bfs_queue.push(root);
-      root = nullptr; // now the root node is owned by the queue
+      // first, steal the root and move it to the queue. This invalidates root
+      bfs_queue.push(std::move(root));
 
       // do a BFS on the tree, for each node, add its children to the queue, and then delete it from the queue
       // So if the reference count of the node is 1, it will be deleted, and because its children are in the queue,
       // the deletion of the node will not trigger a recursive deletion of the children.
       while (!bfs_queue.empty()) {
-        // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable
-        auto current = bfs_queue.front();
+        // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable, invalidating the sharedClique at the front of the queue
+        auto current = std::move(bfs_queue.front());
         bfs_queue.pop();
 
         // add the children of the current node to the queue, so that the queue will also own the children nodes.
         for (auto child: current->children) {
-          bfs_queue.push(child);
+          bfs_queue.push(std::move(child));
         } // leaving the scope of current will decrease the reference count of the current node by 1, and if the reference count is 0,
           // the node will be deleted. Because the children are in the queue, the deletion of the node will not trigger a recursive
           // deletion of the children.
diff --git a/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree-inst.h b/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree-inst.h
index 2a5f0b455..1a0b4470d 100644
--- a/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree-inst.h
+++ b/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree-inst.h
@@ -114,20 +114,20 @@ ClusterTree<GRAPH>::~ClusterTree() {
   
   for (auto&& root : roots_) {
     std::queue<sharedNode> bfs_queue;
-    // first, move the root to the queue
-    bfs_queue.push(root);
-    root = nullptr; // now the root node is owned by the queue
+
+    // first, steal the root and move it to the queue. This invalidates root
+    bfs_queue.push(std::move(root));
 
     // for each node iterated, if its reference count is 1, it will be deleted while its children are still in the queue.
     // so that the recursive deletion will not happen.
     while (!bfs_queue.empty()) {
-      // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable
-      auto node = bfs_queue.front();
+      // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable, invalidating the sharedClique at the front of the queue
+      auto node = std::move(bfs_queue.front());
       bfs_queue.pop();
 
       // add the children of the current node to the queue, so that the queue will also own the children nodes.
       for (auto child : node->children) {
-        bfs_queue.push(child);
+        bfs_queue.push(std::move(child));
       } // leaving the scope of current will decrease the reference count of the current node by 1, and if the reference count is 0,
         // the node will be deleted. Because the children are in the queue, the deletion of the node will not trigger a recursive
         // deletion of the children.
diff --git a/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree-inst.h b/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree-inst.h
index 16449d0f4..3ab0e9ce4 100644
--- a/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree-inst.h
+++ b/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree-inst.h
@@ -197,20 +197,19 @@ namespace gtsam {
     for (auto&& root : roots_) {
       std::queue<sharedNode> bfs_queue;
 
-      // first, move the root to the queue
-      bfs_queue.push(root);
-      root = nullptr; // now the root node is owned by the queue
+      // first, steal the root and move it to the queue. This invalidates root
+      bfs_queue.push(std::move(root));
 
       // for each node iterated, if its reference count is 1, it will be deleted while its children are still in the queue.
       // so that the recursive deletion will not happen.
       while (!bfs_queue.empty()) {
-        // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable
-        auto node = bfs_queue.front();
+        // move the ownership of the front node from the queue to the current variable, invalidating the sharedClique at the front of the queue
+        auto node = std::move(bfs_queue.front());
         bfs_queue.pop();
 
         // add the children of the current node to the queue, so that the queue will also own the children nodes.
         for (auto&& child : node->children) {
-          bfs_queue.push(child);
+          bfs_queue.push(std::move(child));
         } // leaving the scope of current will decrease the reference count of the current node by 1, and if the reference count is 0,
           // the node will be deleted. Because the children are in the queue, the deletion of the node will not trigger a recursive
           // deletion of the children.