diff --git a/src/de/decoder.rs b/src/de/decoder.rs
index 63983d3e..80da88dc 100644
--- a/src/de/decoder.rs
+++ b/src/de/decoder.rs
@@ -20,16 +20,16 @@ use crate::{config::Config, error::DecodeError, utils::Sealed};
 /// // this u32 can be any Decode
 /// let value = u32::decode(&mut decoder).unwrap();
 /// ```
-pub struct DecoderImpl<R, C: Config, Context> {
+pub struct DecoderImpl<'context, R, C: Config, Context> {
     reader: R,
     config: C,
     bytes_read: usize,
-    context: Context,
+    context: &'context mut Context,
 }
 
-impl<R: Reader, C: Config, Context> DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {
+impl<'context, R: Reader, C: Config, Context> DecoderImpl<'context, R, C, Context> {
     /// Construct a new Decoder
-    pub const fn new(reader: R, config: C, context: Context) -> DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {
+    pub fn new(reader: R, config: C, context: &'context mut Context) -> DecoderImpl<'context, R, C, Context> {
         DecoderImpl {
             reader,
             config,
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ impl<R: Reader, C: Config, Context> DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<R, C: Config, Context> Sealed for DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {}
+impl<'context, R, C: Config, Context> Sealed for DecoderImpl<'context, R, C, Context> {}
 
-impl<'de, R: BorrowReader<'de>, C: Config, Context> BorrowDecoder<'de>
-    for DecoderImpl<R, C, Context>
+impl<'context, 'de, R: BorrowReader<'de>, C: Config, Context> BorrowDecoder<'de>
+    for DecoderImpl<'context, R, C, Context>
 {
     type BR = R;
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ impl<'de, R: BorrowReader<'de>, C: Config, Context> BorrowDecoder<'de>
     }
 }
 
-impl<R: Reader, C: Config, Context> Decoder for DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {
+impl<'context, R: Reader, C: Config, Context> Decoder for DecoderImpl<'context, R, C, Context> {
     type R = R;
 
     type C = C;
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ impl<R: Reader, C: Config, Context> Decoder for DecoderImpl<R, C, Context> {
     }
 
     fn context(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Context {
-        &mut self.context
+        self.context
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/features/impl_std.rs b/src/features/impl_std.rs
index db927a89..7cf74e72 100644
--- a/src/features/impl_std.rs
+++ b/src/features/impl_std.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ pub fn decode_from_std_read<D: Decode<()>, C: Config, R: std::io::Read>(
     src: &mut R,
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<D, DecodeError> {
-    decode_from_std_read_with_context(src, config, ())
+    decode_from_std_read_with_context(src, config, &mut ())
 }
 
 #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "std")))]
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ pub fn decode_from_std_read_with_context<
 >(
     src: &mut R,
     config: C,
-    context: Context,
+    context: &mut Context,
 ) -> Result<D, DecodeError> {
     let reader = IoReader::new(src);
     let mut decoder = DecoderImpl::<_, C, Context>::new(reader, config, context);
diff --git a/src/features/serde/de_borrowed.rs b/src/features/serde/de_borrowed.rs
index 4e98f8f4..ee0815eb 100644
--- a/src/features/serde/de_borrowed.rs
+++ b/src/features/serde/de_borrowed.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ where
     C: Config,
 {
     let reader = crate::de::read::SliceReader::new(slice);
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder {
         de: &mut decoder,
         pd: PhantomData,
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ where
     C: Config,
 {
     let reader = crate::de::read::SliceReader::new(slice);
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config,  &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder {
         de: &mut decoder,
         pd: PhantomData,
@@ -56,7 +58,8 @@ where
     C: Config,
 {
     let reader = crate::de::read::SliceReader::new(slice);
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder {
         de: &mut decoder,
         pd: PhantomData,
diff --git a/src/features/serde/de_owned.rs b/src/features/serde/de_owned.rs
index 9b25e5c9..292efb3c 100644
--- a/src/features/serde/de_owned.rs
+++ b/src/features/serde/de_owned.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ where
     C: Config,
 {
     let reader = crate::de::read::SliceReader::new(slice);
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder { de: &mut decoder };
     let result = D::deserialize(serde_decoder)?;
     let bytes_read = slice.len() - decoder.reader().slice.len();
@@ -39,7 +40,8 @@ pub fn decode_from_std_read<D: DeserializeOwned, C: Config, R: std::io::Read>(
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<D, DecodeError> {
     let reader = crate::IoReader::new(src);
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder { de: &mut decoder };
     D::deserialize(serde_decoder)
 }
@@ -53,7 +55,8 @@ pub fn decode_from_reader<D: DeserializeOwned, R: Reader, C: Config>(
     reader: R,
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<D, DecodeError> {
-    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, ()>::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = crate::de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, ()>::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     let serde_decoder = SerdeDecoder { de: &mut decoder };
     D::deserialize(serde_decoder)
 }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 695ee0dd..89974a4f 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -149,13 +149,13 @@ pub fn decode_from_slice<D: de::Decode<()>, C: Config>(
     src: &[u8],
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<(D, usize), error::DecodeError> {
-    decode_from_slice_with_context(src, config, ())
+    decode_from_slice_with_context(src, config, &mut ())
 }
 
 pub fn decode_from_slice_with_context<Context, D: de::Decode<Context>, C: Config>(
     src: &[u8],
     config: C,
-    context: Context,
+    context: &mut Context,
 ) -> Result<(D, usize), error::DecodeError> {
     let reader = de::read::SliceReader::new(src);
     let mut decoder = de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, Context>::new(reader, config, context);
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ pub fn borrow_decode_from_slice<'a, D: de::BorrowDecode<'a, ()>, C: Config>(
     src: &'a [u8],
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<(D, usize), error::DecodeError> {
-    borrow_decode_from_slice_with_context(src, config, ())
+    borrow_decode_from_slice_with_context(src, config, &mut ())
 }
 
 pub fn borrow_decode_from_slice_with_context<
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ pub fn borrow_decode_from_slice_with_context<
 >(
     src: &'a [u8],
     config: C,
-    context: Context,
+    context: &mut Context,
 ) -> Result<(D, usize), error::DecodeError> {
     let reader = de::read::SliceReader::new(src);
     let mut decoder = de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, Context>::new(reader, config, context);
@@ -202,7 +202,8 @@ pub fn decode_from_reader<D: de::Decode<()>, R: Reader, C: Config>(
     reader: R,
     config: C,
 ) -> Result<D, error::DecodeError> {
-    let mut decoder = de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, ()>::new(reader, config, ());
+    let mut context = ();
+    let mut decoder = de::DecoderImpl::<_, C, ()>::new(reader, config, &mut context);
     D::decode(&mut decoder)
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/context.rs b/tests/context.rs
index 68ec25cc..145453f2 100644
--- a/tests/context.rs
+++ b/tests/context.rs
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ fn decode_with_context() {
 
     let bytes = encode_to_vec(&container, config).unwrap();
     let (decoded_container, _) =
-        decode_from_slice_with_context::<_, Container, _>(&bytes, config, &bump).unwrap();
+        decode_from_slice_with_context::<_, Container, _>(&bytes, config, &mut &bump).unwrap();
 
     assert_eq!(container, decoded_container);