diff --git a/src/whisper_ctx_wrapper.rs b/src/whisper_ctx_wrapper.rs
index 5d2eec8..3635538 100644
--- a/src/whisper_ctx_wrapper.rs
+++ b/src/whisper_ctx_wrapper.rs
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ impl WhisperContext {
             Err(WhisperError::InitError)
         } else {
             // SAFETY: this is known to be a valid pointer to a `whisper_state` struct
-            Ok(WhisperState::new(self.ctx.clone(), state))
+            Ok(unsafe { WhisperState::new(self.ctx.clone(), state) })
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/whisper_state.rs b/src/whisper_state.rs
index b5aee36..d6e09ea 100644
--- a/src/whisper_state.rs
+++ b/src/whisper_state.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ impl Drop for WhisperState {
 }
 
 impl WhisperState {
-    pub(crate) fn new(
+    /// # Safety
+    /// * `ptr` must be non-null
+    /// * `ptr` must be a valid pointer to a `whisper_state`.
+    pub(crate) unsafe fn new(
         ctx: Arc<WhisperInnerContext>,
         ptr: *mut whisper_rs_sys::whisper_state,
     ) -> Self {