diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 229c861..112b621 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         Timer timer;
         tick(timer);
         std::cout << "Parsing and constructing scene " << filename << "." << std::endl;
-        Scene scene = parse_scene(filename, embree_device);
+        std::unique_ptr<Scene> scene = parse_scene(filename, embree_device);
         std::cout << "Done. Took " << tick(timer) << " seconds." << std::endl;
         std::cout << "Rendering..." << std::endl;
-        Image3 img = render(scene);
-        if (outputfile.compare("") == 0) {outputfile = scene.output_filename;}
+        Image3 img = render(*scene);
+        if (outputfile.compare("") == 0) {outputfile = scene->output_filename;}
         std::cout << "Done. Took " << tick(timer) << " seconds." << std::endl;
         imwrite(outputfile, img);
         std::cout << "Image written to " << outputfile << std::endl;
diff --git a/src/parsers/parse_scene.cpp b/src/parsers/parse_scene.cpp
index 67bab84..17a8213 100644
--- a/src/parsers/parse_scene.cpp
+++ b/src/parsers/parse_scene.cpp
@@ -1406,7 +1406,7 @@ Shape parse_shape(pugi::xml_node node,
     return shape;
 }
 
-Scene parse_scene(pugi::xml_node node, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
+std::unique_ptr<Scene> parse_scene(pugi::xml_node node, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
     RenderOptions options;
     Camera camera(Matrix4x4::identity(),
                   c_default_fov,
@@ -1586,19 +1586,20 @@ Scene parse_scene(pugi::xml_node node, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
             }
         }
     }
-    return Scene{embree_device,
-                 camera,
-                 materials,
-                 shapes,
-                 lights,
-                 media,
-                 envmap_light_id,
-                 texture_pool,
-                 options,
-                 filename};
+    return std::make_unique<Scene>(
+                embree_device,
+                camera,
+                materials,
+                shapes,
+                lights,
+                media,
+                envmap_light_id,
+                texture_pool,
+                options,
+                filename);
 }
 
-Scene parse_scene(const fs::path &filename, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
+std::unique_ptr<Scene> parse_scene(const fs::path &filename, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
     pugi::xml_document doc;
     pugi::xml_parse_result result = doc.load_file(filename.c_str());
     if (!result) {
@@ -1609,7 +1610,7 @@ Scene parse_scene(const fs::path &filename, const RTCDevice &embree_device) {
     // back up the current working directory and switch to the parent folder of the file
     fs::path old_path = fs::current_path();
     fs::current_path(filename.parent_path());
-    Scene scene = parse_scene(doc.child("scene"), embree_device);
+    std::unique_ptr<Scene> scene = parse_scene(doc.child("scene"), embree_device);
     // switch back to the old current working directory
     fs::current_path(old_path);
     return scene;
diff --git a/src/parsers/parse_scene.h b/src/parsers/parse_scene.h
index 4e4f2f8..506017c 100644
--- a/src/parsers/parse_scene.h
+++ b/src/parsers/parse_scene.h
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 #include <memory>
 
 /// Parse Mitsuba's XML scene format.
-Scene parse_scene(const fs::path &filename, const RTCDevice &embree_device);
+std::unique_ptr<Scene> parse_scene(const fs::path &filename, const RTCDevice &embree_device);
diff --git a/src/scene.cpp b/src/scene.cpp
index d03f3aa..f5d241d 100644
--- a/src/scene.cpp
+++ b/src/scene.cpp
@@ -52,18 +52,6 @@ Scene::Scene(const RTCDevice &embree_device,
     light_dist = make_table_dist_1d(power);
 }
 
-Scene::Scene(const Scene& t) :
-        embree_device(t.embree_device), embree_scene(t.embree_scene),
-        camera(t.camera), materials(t.materials),
-        shapes(t.shapes), lights(t.lights), media(t.media),
-        envmap_light_id(t.envmap_light_id),
-        texture_pool(t.texture_pool), bounds(t.bounds), options(t.options),
-        output_filename(t.output_filename), light_dist(t.light_dist) {
-    // embree_scene is managed by Embree using reference counting.
-    // it's crucial for us to also maintain the reference count when copying scenes.
-    rtcRetainScene(t.embree_scene);
-}
-
 Scene::~Scene() {
     // This decreses the reference count of embree_scene in Embree,
     // if it reaches zero, Embree will deallocate the scene.
diff --git a/src/scene.h b/src/scene.h
index dedb9b4..b3d67b0 100644
--- a/src/scene.h
+++ b/src/scene.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ struct Scene {
           const RenderOptions &options,
           const std::string &output_filename);
     ~Scene();
-    Scene(const Scene& t);
+    Scene(const Scene& t) = delete;
     Scene& operator=(const Scene& t) = delete;
 
     RTCDevice embree_device;