diff --git a/rules/ast/persistence_adapter.go b/rules/ast/persistence_adapter.go
index 2ca1b37d2..2eaf858a4 100644
--- a/rules/ast/persistence_adapter.go
+++ b/rules/ast/persistence_adapter.go
@@ -30,20 +30,20 @@ type PersistenceAdapter struct {
 // AST-global persistence to use.
 var persistenceAdapter *PersistenceAdapter = nil
 
-func (p *PersistenceAdapter) getMetricsWithLabels(labels model.LabelSet) ([]*model.Metric, error) {
+func (p *PersistenceAdapter) getMetricsWithLabels(labels model.LabelSet) (metrics []model.Metric, err error) {
 	fingerprints, err := p.persistence.GetFingerprintsForLabelSet(labels)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return
 	}
-	metrics := []*model.Metric{}
 	for _, fingerprint := range fingerprints {
 		metric, err := p.persistence.GetMetricForFingerprint(fingerprint)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			return metrics, err
 		}
 		metrics = append(metrics, metric)
 	}
-	return metrics, nil
+
+	return
 }
 
 func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetValueAtTime(labels model.LabelSet, timestamp *time.Time) ([]*model.Sample, error) {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetValueAtTime(labels model.LabelSet, timestamp *ti
 	}
 	samples := []*model.Sample{}
 	for _, metric := range metrics {
-		sample, err := p.persistence.GetValueAtTime(*metric, *timestamp, *p.stalenessPolicy)
+		sample, err := p.persistence.GetValueAtTime(metric, *timestamp, *p.stalenessPolicy)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetBoundaryValues(labels model.LabelSet, interval *
 	sampleSets := []*model.SampleSet{}
 	for _, metric := range metrics {
 		// TODO: change to GetBoundaryValues() once it has the right return type.
-		sampleSet, err := p.persistence.GetRangeValues(*metric, *interval, *p.stalenessPolicy)
+		sampleSet, err := p.persistence.GetRangeValues(metric, *interval, *p.stalenessPolicy)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetBoundaryValues(labels model.LabelSet, interval *
 		}
 
 		// TODO remove when persistence return value is fixed.
-		sampleSet.Metric = *metric
+		sampleSet.Metric = metric
 		sampleSets = append(sampleSets, sampleSet)
 	}
 	return sampleSets, nil
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetRangeValues(labels model.LabelSet, interval *mod
 
 	sampleSets := []*model.SampleSet{}
 	for _, metric := range metrics {
-		sampleSet, err := p.persistence.GetRangeValues(*metric, *interval, *p.stalenessPolicy)
+		sampleSet, err := p.persistence.GetRangeValues(metric, *interval, *p.stalenessPolicy)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (p *PersistenceAdapter) GetRangeValues(labels model.LabelSet, interval *mod
 		}
 
 		// TODO remove when persistence return value is fixed.
-		sampleSet.Metric = *metric
+		sampleSet.Metric = metric
 		sampleSets = append(sampleSets, sampleSet)
 	}
 	return sampleSets, nil
diff --git a/storage/metric/interface.go b/storage/metric/interface.go
index 7ec676241..4c1b7a741 100644
--- a/storage/metric/interface.go
+++ b/storage/metric/interface.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ type MetricPersistence interface {
 	// name.
 	GetFingerprintsForLabelName(model.LabelName) ([]model.Fingerprint, error)
 
-	GetMetricForFingerprint(model.Fingerprint) (*model.Metric, error)
+	GetMetricForFingerprint(model.Fingerprint) (model.Metric, error)
 
 	GetValueAtTime(model.Metric, time.Time, StalenessPolicy) (*model.Sample, error)
 	GetBoundaryValues(model.Metric, model.Interval, StalenessPolicy) (*model.Sample, *model.Sample, error)
diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb/leveldb_test.go b/storage/metric/leveldb/leveldb_test.go
index 38faa056f..793c5cf3f 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb/leveldb_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb/leveldb_test.go
@@ -892,11 +892,11 @@ func TestGetMetricForFingerprint(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error(e)
 	}
 
-	if len(*v) != 1 {
+	if len(v) != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("Expected one-dimensional metric.")
 	}
 
-	if (*v)["request_type"] != "your_mom" {
+	if v["request_type"] != "your_mom" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
@@ -918,15 +918,15 @@ func TestGetMetricForFingerprint(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error(e)
 	}
 
-	if len(*v) != 2 {
+	if len(v) != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("Expected one-dimensional metric.")
 	}
 
-	if (*v)["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
+	if v["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
-	if (*v)["one-off"] != "value" {
+	if v["one-off"] != "value" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb/reading.go b/storage/metric/leveldb/reading.go
index a2bd6f7cf..48c8f74f1 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb/reading.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb/reading.go
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelName(labelName model.L
 	return
 }
 
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f model.Fingerprint) (m *model.Metric, err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f model.Fingerprint) (m model.Metric, err error) {
 	begin := time.Now()
 
 	defer func() {
@@ -279,9 +279,10 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f model.Fingerprint)
 		return
 	}
 
-	m = &model.Metric{}
+	m = model.Metric{}
+
 	for _, v := range unmarshaled.LabelPair {
-		(*m)[model.LabelName(*v.Name)] = model.LabelValue(*v.Value)
+		m[model.LabelName(*v.Name)] = model.LabelValue(*v.Value)
 	}
 
 	return