diff --git a/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.h b/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.h
index f9af3684bb7..a4db232965b 100644
--- a/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.h
+++ b/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.h
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class ITK_TEMPLATE_EXPORT ImageSeriesReader : public ImageSource<TOutputImage>
     : m_ImageIO(nullptr)
 
   {}
-  ~ImageSeriesReader() override;
+  ~ImageSeriesReader() override = default;
   void
   PrintSelf(std::ostream & os, Indent indent) const override;
 
@@ -205,10 +205,6 @@ class ITK_TEMPLATE_EXPORT ImageSeriesReader : public ImageSource<TOutputImage>
    */
   unsigned int m_NumberOfDimensionsInImage{ 0 };
 
-  /** Array of MetaDataDictionaries. This allows to hold information from the
-   * ImageIO objects after reading every sub image in the series */
-  DictionaryArrayType m_MetaDataDictionaryArray{};
-
   bool m_UseStreaming{ true };
 
   bool m_SpacingDefined{ false };
@@ -221,6 +217,13 @@ class ITK_TEMPLATE_EXPORT ImageSeriesReader : public ImageSource<TOutputImage>
   int
   ComputeMovingDimensionIndex(ReaderType * reader);
 
+  /** Array of MetaDataDictionaries. This allows to hold information from the
+   * ImageIO objects after reading every sub image in the series */
+  DictionaryArrayType m_MetaDataDictionaryArray{};
+
+  /** The internal storage of MetaDataDictionaries. */
+  std::vector<MetaDataDictionary> m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries{};
+
   /** Modified time of the MetaDataDictionaryArray */
   TimeStamp m_MetaDataDictionaryArrayMTime{};
 
diff --git a/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.hxx b/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.hxx
index 452980f41ac..66b98d7b76c 100644
--- a/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.hxx
+++ b/Modules/IO/ImageBase/include/itkImageSeriesReader.hxx
@@ -30,22 +30,6 @@
 
 namespace itk
 {
-// Destructor
-template <typename TOutputImage>
-ImageSeriesReader<TOutputImage>::~ImageSeriesReader()
-{
-  // Clear the eventual previous content of the MetaDictionary array
-  if (!m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.empty())
-  {
-    for (auto & i : m_MetaDataDictionaryArray)
-    {
-      // each element is a raw pointer, delete them.
-      delete i;
-    }
-  }
-  m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.clear();
-}
-
 template <typename TOutputImage>
 void
 ImageSeriesReader<TOutputImage>::PrintSelf(std::ostream & os, Indent indent) const
@@ -102,15 +86,8 @@ ImageSeriesReader<TOutputImage>::GenerateOutputInformation()
   const std::string key("ITK_ImageOrigin");
 
   // Clear the previous content of the MetaDictionary array
-  if (!m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.empty())
-  {
-    for (auto & i : m_MetaDataDictionaryArray)
-    {
-      // each element is a raw pointer, delete them.
-      delete i;
-    }
-  }
   m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.clear();
+  m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries.clear();
 
   const auto numberOfFiles = static_cast<int>(m_FileNames.size());
   if (numberOfFiles == 0)
@@ -297,6 +274,8 @@ ImageSeriesReader<TOutputImage>::GenerateData()
   double                             maxSpacingDeviation = 0.0;
   bool                               prevSliceIsValid = false;
 
+  m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries.reserve(static_cast<size_t>(numberOfFiles));
+
   for (int i = 0; i != numberOfFiles; ++i)
   {
     if (TOutputImage::ImageDimension != this->m_NumberOfDimensionsInImage)
@@ -457,17 +436,23 @@ ImageSeriesReader<TOutputImage>::GenerateData()
     // Deep copy the MetaDataDictionary into the array
     if (reader->GetImageIO() && needToUpdateMetaDataDictionaryArray)
     {
-      auto newDictionary = new DictionaryType;
-      *newDictionary = reader->GetImageIO()->GetMetaDataDictionary();
+      MetaDataDictionary newDictionary = reader->GetImageIO()->GetMetaDataDictionary();
       if (nonUniformSampling)
       {
         // slice-specific information
-        EncapsulateMetaData<double>(*newDictionary, "ITK_non_uniform_sampling_deviation", spacingDeviation);
+        EncapsulateMetaData<double>(newDictionary, "ITK_non_uniform_sampling_deviation", spacingDeviation);
       }
-      m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.push_back(newDictionary);
+      m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries.push_back(std::move(newDictionary));
     }
   } // end per slice loop
 
+  m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.clear();
+  m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.reserve(m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries.size());
+
+  for (MetaDataDictionary & dictionary : m_InternalMetaDataDictionaries)
+  {
+    m_MetaDataDictionaryArray.push_back(&dictionary);
+  }
 
   if (TOutputImage::ImageDimension != this->m_NumberOfDimensionsInImage &&
       maxSpacingDeviation > m_SpacingWarningRelThreshold * outputSpacing[this->m_NumberOfDimensionsInImage])