diff --git a/fake_system_state.cc b/fake_system_state.cc
index 8c73aa1..6777838 100644
--- a/fake_system_state.cc
+++ b/fake_system_state.cc
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
     fake_system_rebooted_(false) {
   mock_payload_state_.Initialize(this);
   mock_update_attempter_.Init();
-  fake_policy_manager_.Init(new FakeState());
 }
 
 }  // namespace chromeos_update_engine
diff --git a/policy_manager/fake_policy_manager.h b/policy_manager/fake_policy_manager.h
index 2b6ea3a..83c575c 100644
--- a/policy_manager/fake_policy_manager.h
+++ b/policy_manager/fake_policy_manager.h
@@ -8,17 +8,25 @@
 #include "update_engine/policy_manager/policy_manager.h"
 
 #include "update_engine/policy_manager/default_policy.h"
+#include "update_engine/policy_manager/fake_state.h"
 
 namespace chromeos_policy_manager {
 
 class FakePolicyManager : public PolicyManager {
  public:
   explicit FakePolicyManager(chromeos_update_engine::ClockInterface* clock)
-      : PolicyManager(clock) {
+      : PolicyManager(clock, new FakeState()) {
     // The FakePolicyManager uses a DefaultPolicy.
     set_policy(new DefaultPolicy());
   }
 
+  // PolicyManager overrides.
+  using PolicyManager::set_policy;
+
+  FakeState* state() {
+    return reinterpret_cast<FakeState*>(PolicyManager::state());
+  }
+
  private:
   DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(FakePolicyManager);
 };
diff --git a/policy_manager/policy_manager.cc b/policy_manager/policy_manager.cc
index c8e7d4e..71f0290 100644
--- a/policy_manager/policy_manager.cc
+++ b/policy_manager/policy_manager.cc
@@ -11,20 +11,12 @@
 
 namespace chromeos_policy_manager {
 
-template <typename T>
-bool InitProvider(scoped_ptr<T>* handle_ptr, T* provider) {
-  handle_ptr->reset(provider);
-  return handle_ptr->get() && (*handle_ptr)->Init();
-}
-
-bool PolicyManager::Init(State* state) {
+PolicyManager::PolicyManager(chromeos_update_engine::ClockInterface* clock,
+                             State* state)
+      : state_(state), clock_(clock) {
   // TODO(deymo): Make it possible to replace this policy with a different
   // implementation with a build-time flag.
   policy_.reset(new ChromeOSPolicy());
-
-  state_.reset(state);
-
-  return true;
 }
 
 }  // namespace chromeos_policy_manager
diff --git a/policy_manager/policy_manager.h b/policy_manager/policy_manager.h
index 75e6082..99ca26b 100644
--- a/policy_manager/policy_manager.h
+++ b/policy_manager/policy_manager.h
@@ -19,13 +19,12 @@
 // The main Policy Manager singleton class.
 class PolicyManager {
  public:
-  explicit PolicyManager(chromeos_update_engine::ClockInterface* clock)
-      : clock_(clock) {}
+  // Creates the PolicyManager instance, assuming ownership on the provided
+  // |state|.
+  PolicyManager(chromeos_update_engine::ClockInterface* clock,
+                State* state);
 
-  // Initializes the PolicyManager instance, assuming ownership on the provided
-  // |state|, which is assumed to be pre-initialized. Returns whether the
-  // initialization succeeded.
-  bool Init(State* state);
+  virtual ~PolicyManager() {}
 
   // PolicyRequest() evaluates the given policy with the provided arguments and
   // returns the result. The |policy_method| is the pointer-to-method of the
@@ -76,6 +75,9 @@
     policy_.reset(policy);
   }
 
+  // State getter used for testing.
+  State* state() { return state_.get(); }
+
  private:
   FRIEND_TEST(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestCallsPolicy);
   FRIEND_TEST(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestCallsDefaultOnError);
diff --git a/policy_manager/policy_manager_unittest.cc b/policy_manager/policy_manager_unittest.cc
index 9b14a00..b1f5562 100644
--- a/policy_manager/policy_manager_unittest.cc
+++ b/policy_manager/policy_manager_unittest.cc
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include <base/bind.h>
+#include <base/memory/scoped_ptr.h>
 #include <gmock/gmock.h>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
@@ -32,18 +33,15 @@
 namespace chromeos_policy_manager {
 
 class PmPolicyManagerTest : public ::testing::Test {
- public:
-  PmPolicyManagerTest() : pmut_(&fake_clock_) {}
-
  protected:
   virtual void SetUp() {
     fake_state_ = new FakeState();
-    EXPECT_TRUE(pmut_.Init(fake_state_));
+    pmut_.reset(new PolicyManager(&fake_clock_, fake_state_));
   }
 
-  FakeState* fake_state_;
+  FakeState* fake_state_;  // Owned by the pmut_.
   FakeClock fake_clock_;
-  PolicyManager pmut_;
+  scoped_ptr<PolicyManager> pmut_;
 };
 
 // The FailingPolicy implements a single method and make it always fail. This
@@ -79,38 +77,42 @@
 
 TEST_F(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestCall) {
   bool result;
-  EvalStatus status = pmut_.PolicyRequest(&Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
+  EvalStatus status = pmut_->PolicyRequest(
+      &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
   EXPECT_EQ(status, EvalStatus::kSucceeded);
 }
 
 TEST_F(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestCallsPolicy) {
   StrictMock<MockPolicy>* policy = new StrictMock<MockPolicy>();
-  pmut_.policy_.reset(policy);
+  pmut_->set_policy(policy);
   bool result;
 
   // Tests that the method is called on the policy_ instance.
   EXPECT_CALL(*policy, UpdateCheckAllowed(_, _, _, _))
       .WillOnce(Return(EvalStatus::kSucceeded));
-  EvalStatus status = pmut_.PolicyRequest(&Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
+  EvalStatus status = pmut_->PolicyRequest(
+      &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
   EXPECT_EQ(status, EvalStatus::kSucceeded);
 }
 
 TEST_F(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestCallsDefaultOnError) {
-  pmut_.policy_.reset(new FailingPolicy());
+  pmut_->set_policy(new FailingPolicy());
 
   // Tests that the DefaultPolicy instance is called when the method fails,
   // which will set this as true.
   bool result = false;
-  EvalStatus status = pmut_.PolicyRequest(&Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
+  EvalStatus status = pmut_->PolicyRequest(
+      &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
   EXPECT_EQ(status, EvalStatus::kSucceeded);
   EXPECT_TRUE(result);
 }
 
 TEST_F(PmPolicyManagerTest, PolicyRequestDoesntBlock) {
-  pmut_.policy_.reset(new LazyPolicy());
+  pmut_->set_policy(new LazyPolicy());
   bool result;
 
-  EvalStatus status = pmut_.PolicyRequest(&Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
+  EvalStatus status = pmut_->PolicyRequest(
+      &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed, &result);
   EXPECT_EQ(status, EvalStatus::kAskMeAgainLater);
 }
 
@@ -119,13 +121,13 @@
   // call on a policy that returns AskMeAgainLater the first time and one that
   // succeeds the first time, we ensure that the passed callback is called from
   // the main loop in both cases even when we could evaluate it right now.
-  pmut_.policy_.reset(new FailingPolicy());
+  pmut_->set_policy(new FailingPolicy());
 
   vector<pair<EvalStatus, bool>> calls;
   Callback<void(EvalStatus, const bool& result)> callback =
       Bind(AccumulateCallsCallback<bool>, &calls);
 
-  pmut_.AsyncPolicyRequest(callback, &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed);
+  pmut_->AsyncPolicyRequest(callback, &Policy::UpdateCheckAllowed);
   // The callback should wait until we run the main loop for it to be executed.
   EXPECT_EQ(0, calls.size());
   chromeos_update_engine::RunGMainLoopMaxIterations(100);
diff --git a/real_system_state.cc b/real_system_state.cc
index 9384228..7fca0ca 100644
--- a/real_system_state.cc
+++ b/real_system_state.cc
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
       connection_manager_(this),
       update_attempter_(this, &dbus_),
       request_params_(this),
-      policy_manager_(&clock_),
       system_rebooted_(false) {}
 
 bool RealSystemState::Initialize(bool enable_gpio) {
@@ -45,11 +44,15 @@
                                            kMaxP2PFilesToKeep));
 
   // Initialize the PolicyManager using the default State Factory.
-  if (!policy_manager_.Init(chromeos_policy_manager::DefaultStateFactory(
-      &policy_provider_, &dbus_, this))) {
+  chromeos_policy_manager::State* pm_state =
+      chromeos_policy_manager::DefaultStateFactory(
+          &policy_provider_, &dbus_, this);
+  if (!pm_state) {
     LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to initialize the policy manager.";
     return false;
   }
+  policy_manager_.reset(
+      new chromeos_policy_manager::PolicyManager(&clock_, pm_state));
 
   if (!payload_state_.Initialize(this)) {
     LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to initialize the payload state object.";
diff --git a/real_system_state.h b/real_system_state.h
index 32d972b..aac7efc 100644
--- a/real_system_state.h
+++ b/real_system_state.h
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 
   virtual inline chromeos_policy_manager::PolicyManager* policy_manager()
       override {
-    return &policy_manager_;
+    return policy_manager_.get();
   }
 
   virtual inline bool system_rebooted() override {
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@
 
   scoped_ptr<P2PManager> p2p_manager_;
 
-  chromeos_policy_manager::PolicyManager policy_manager_;
+  scoped_ptr<chromeos_policy_manager::PolicyManager> policy_manager_;
 
   policy::PolicyProvider policy_provider_;