diff --git a/crates/core/src/logstore/mod.rs b/crates/core/src/logstore/mod.rs
index 137faa83f4..94f88b5944 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/logstore/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/logstore/mod.rs
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ pub fn logstore_with(
         .map_err(|_| DeltaTableError::InvalidTableLocation(location.clone().into()))?;
 
     let store = if let Some(io_runtime) = io_runtime {
-        Arc::new(DeltaIOStorageBackend::new(store, io_runtime.get_rt())) as ObjectStoreRef
+        Arc::new(DeltaIOStorageBackend::new(store, io_runtime.get_handle())) as ObjectStoreRef
     } else {
         store
     };
diff --git a/crates/core/src/storage/mod.rs b/crates/core/src/storage/mod.rs
index 6d07b4e133..37daab755f 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/storage/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/storage/mod.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use object_store::memory::InMemory;
 use object_store::prefix::PrefixStore;
 use object_store::{GetOptions, PutOptions, PutPayload, PutResult};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use tokio::runtime::{Builder as RuntimeBuilder, Runtime};
+use tokio::runtime::{Builder as RuntimeBuilder, Handle, Runtime};
 use url::Url;
 
 use bytes::Bytes;
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ lazy_static! {
 }
 
 /// Creates static IO Runtime with optional configuration
-fn io_rt(config: Option<&RuntimeConfig>) -> &'static Runtime {
+fn io_rt(config: Option<&RuntimeConfig>) -> &Runtime {
     static IO_RT: OnceLock<Runtime> = OnceLock::new();
     IO_RT.get_or_init(|| {
         let rt = match config {
@@ -88,36 +88,37 @@ pub struct RuntimeConfig {
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub enum IORuntime {
     /// Tokio RT handle
-    RT(&'static Runtime),
+    RT(Handle),
     /// Configuration for tokio runtime
     Config(RuntimeConfig),
 }
 
 impl Default for IORuntime {
     fn default() -> Self {
-        IORuntime::RT(io_rt(None))
+        IORuntime::RT(io_rt(None).handle().clone())
     }
 }
 
 impl IORuntime {
     /// Retrieves the Tokio runtime for IO bound operations
-    pub fn get_rt(&self) -> &'static Runtime {
+    pub fn get_handle(&self) -> Handle {
         match self {
-            IORuntime::RT(handle) => *handle,
-            IORuntime::Config(config) => io_rt(Some(config)),
+            IORuntime::RT(handle) => handle,
+            IORuntime::Config(config) => io_rt(Some(config)).handle(),
         }
+        .clone()
     }
 }
 
 /// Wraps any object store and runs IO in it's own runtime [EXPERIMENTAL]
 pub struct DeltaIOStorageBackend {
     inner: ObjectStoreRef,
-    rt_handle: &'static Runtime,
+    rt_handle: Handle,
 }
 
 impl DeltaIOStorageBackend {
     /// create wrapped object store which spawns tasks in own runtime
-    pub fn new(storage: ObjectStoreRef, rt_handle: &'static Runtime) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(storage: ObjectStoreRef, rt_handle: Handle) -> Self {
         Self {
             inner: storage,
             rt_handle,