diff --git a/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip b/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
index 65dfc75e43b..d32969c99ec 100644
--- a/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
+++ b/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
@@ -345,9 +345,9 @@ class QgsExpressionContext
     void appendScope( QgsExpressionContextScope* scope /Transfer/ );
 
     /**
-     * Remove the last scope from the expression context.
+     * Removes the last scope from the expression context and return it.
      */
-    void popScope();
+    QgsExpressionContextScope* popScope();
 
     /** Appends a scope to the end of the context. This scope will override
      * any matching variables or functions provided by existing scopes within the
@@ -491,14 +491,12 @@ class QgsExpressionContextUtils
     static QgsExpressionContextScope* mapSettingsScope( const QgsMapSettings &mapSettings ) /Factory/;
 
     /**
-     * Updates a symbol scope related to a QgsSymbolV2 to an expression context. If there is no existing scope
-     * provided, a new one will be generated and returned.
+     * Updates a symbol scope related to a QgsSymbolV2 to an expression context.
      * @param symbol symbol to extract properties from
-     * @param symbolScope optional pointer to an existing scope to update
+     * @param symbolScope pointer to an existing scope to update
      * @note added in QGIS 2.14
      */
-    static QgsExpressionContextScope* updateSymbolScope( const QgsSymbolV2* symbol, QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = nullptr ) /Factory/;
-
+    static QgsExpressionContextScope* updateSymbolScope( const QgsSymbolV2* symbol, QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = nullptr );
 
     /** Creates a new scope which contains variables and functions relating to a QgsComposition.
      * For instance, number of pages and page sizes.
diff --git a/src/app/qgslabelinggui.cpp b/src/app/qgslabelinggui.cpp
index 631b2bcab3a..40251927b12 100644
--- a/src/app/qgslabelinggui.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgslabelinggui.cpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ static QgsExpressionContext _getExpressionContext( const void* context )
   if ( layer )
     expContext << QgsExpressionContextUtils::layerScope( layer );
 
-  expContext << QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr );
+  expContext << QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr, new QgsExpressionContextScope() );
 
   //TODO - show actual value
   expContext.setOriginalValueVariable( QVariant() );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
index 44786e832de..6444dbc3a9e 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
@@ -384,10 +384,12 @@ void QgsExpressionContext::appendScope( QgsExpressionContextScope* scope )
   mStack.append( scope );
 }
 
-void QgsExpressionContext::popScope()
+QgsExpressionContextScope* QgsExpressionContext::popScope()
 {
   if ( !mStack.isEmpty() )
-    mStack.pop_back();
+    return mStack.takeLast();
+
+  return nullptr;
 }
 
 QgsExpressionContext& QgsExpressionContext::operator<<( QgsExpressionContextScope* scope )
@@ -721,7 +723,7 @@ QgsExpressionContextScope* QgsExpressionContextUtils::mapSettingsScope( const Qg
 QgsExpressionContextScope* QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( const QgsSymbolV2* symbol, QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope )
 {
   if ( !symbolScope )
-    symbolScope = new QgsExpressionContextScope( QObject::tr( "Symbol Scope" ) );
+    return nullptr;
 
   symbolScope->addVariable( QgsExpressionContextScope::StaticVariable( QgsExpressionContext::EXPR_SYMBOL_COLOR, symbol ? symbol->color() : QColor(), true ) );
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
index 38082cf0516..6d3c5c6d7a8 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
@@ -380,9 +380,9 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsExpressionContext
     void appendScope( QgsExpressionContextScope* scope );
 
     /**
-     * Remove the last scope from the expression context.
+     * Removes the last scope from the expression context and return it.
      */
-    void popScope();
+    QgsExpressionContextScope* popScope();
 
     /** Appends a scope to the end of the context. This scope will override
      * any matching variables or functions provided by existing scopes within the
@@ -523,15 +523,13 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsExpressionContextUtils
     static QgsExpressionContextScope* mapSettingsScope( const QgsMapSettings &mapSettings );
 
     /**
-     * Updates a symbol scope related to a QgsSymbolV2 to an expression context. If there is no existing scope
-     * provided, a new one will be generated and returned.
+     * Updates a symbol scope related to a QgsSymbolV2 to an expression context.
      * @param symbol symbol to extract properties from
-     * @param symbolScope optional pointer to an existing scope to update
+     * @param symbolScope pointer to an existing scope to update
      * @note added in QGIS 2.14
      */
     static QgsExpressionContextScope* updateSymbolScope( const QgsSymbolV2* symbol, QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = nullptr );
 
-
     /** Creates a new scope which contains variables and functions relating to a QgsComposition.
      * For instance, number of pages and page sizes.
      * @param composition source composition
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpressionsorter.h b/src/core/qgsexpressionsorter.h
index 7cd1afb28c1..f788af7f271 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpressionsorter.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpressionsorter.h
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class QgsExpressionSorter
         indexedFeatures.append( indexedFeature );
       }
 
-      expressionContext->popScope();
+      delete expressionContext->popScope();
 
       qSort( indexedFeatures.begin(), indexedFeatures.end(), *this );
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayerlabelprovider.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayerlabelprovider.cpp
index 476219b0af4..fb8127816a2 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorlayerlabelprovider.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorlayerlabelprovider.cpp
@@ -281,7 +281,8 @@ QList<QgsLabelFeature*> QgsVectorLayerLabelProvider::labelFeatures( QgsRenderCon
   request.setSubsetOfAttributes( attrNames, mFields );
   QgsFeatureIterator fit = mSource->getFeatures( request );
 
-  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = nullptr;
+  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = new QgsExpressionContextScope();
+  ctx.expressionContext().appendScope( symbolScope );
   QgsFeature fet;
   while ( fit.nextFeature( fet ) )
   {
@@ -297,8 +298,6 @@ QList<QgsLabelFeature*> QgsVectorLayerLabelProvider::labelFeatures( QgsRenderCon
       if ( !symbols.isEmpty() )
       {
         symbolScope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( symbols.at( 0 ), symbolScope );
-        if ( !ctx.expressionContext().scopes().contains( symbolScope ) )
-          ctx.expressionContext().appendScope( symbolScope );
       }
     }
     ctx.expressionContext().setFeature( fet );
@@ -306,7 +305,7 @@ QList<QgsLabelFeature*> QgsVectorLayerLabelProvider::labelFeatures( QgsRenderCon
   }
 
   if ( ctx.expressionContext().lastScope() == symbolScope )
-    ctx.expressionContext().popScope();
+    delete ctx.expressionContext().popScope();
 
   if ( mRenderer )
     mRenderer->stopRender( ctx );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayerrenderer.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayerrenderer.cpp
index 86bf58b26b2..3c21930f594 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorlayerrenderer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorlayerrenderer.cpp
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::setGeometryCachePointer( QgsGeometryCache* cache )
 
 void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::drawRendererV2( QgsFeatureIterator& fit )
 {
-  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr );
+  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr, new QgsExpressionContextScope() );
   mContext.expressionContext().appendScope( symbolScope );
 
   QgsFeature fet;
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::drawRendererV2( QgsFeatureIterator& fit )
     }
   }
 
-  mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
+  delete mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
 
   stopRendererV2( nullptr );
 }
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::drawRendererV2Levels( QgsFeatureIterator& fit )
     selRenderer->startRender( mContext, mFields );
   }
 
-  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr );
+  QgsExpressionContextScope* symbolScope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( nullptr, new QgsExpressionContextScope() );
   mContext.expressionContext().appendScope( symbolScope );
 
   // 1. fetch features
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::drawRendererV2Levels( QgsFeatureIterator& fit )
     {
       qDebug( "rendering stop!" );
       stopRendererV2( selRenderer );
-      mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
+      delete mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
       return;
     }
 
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerRenderer::drawRendererV2Levels( QgsFeatureIterator& fit )
     }
   }
 
-  mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
+  delete mContext.expressionContext().popScope();
 
   // find out the order
   QgsSymbolV2LevelOrder levels;
diff --git a/src/core/symbology-ng/qgssymbolv2.cpp b/src/core/symbology-ng/qgssymbolv2.cpp
index 5a38ff7655a..1d5f9cd7f25 100644
--- a/src/core/symbology-ng/qgssymbolv2.cpp
+++ b/src/core/symbology-ng/qgssymbolv2.cpp
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ void QgsSymbolV2::startRender( QgsRenderContext& context, const QgsFields* field
 
   QgsSymbolV2RenderContext symbolContext( context, outputUnit(), mAlpha, false, mRenderHints, nullptr, fields, mapUnitScale() );
 
-  QgsExpressionContextScope* scope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( this );
+  QgsExpressionContextScope* scope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( this, new QgsExpressionContextScope() );
 
   mSymbolRenderContext->setExpressionContextScope( scope );
 
@@ -713,10 +713,13 @@ void QgsSymbolV2::renderFeature( const QgsFeature& feature, QgsRenderContext& co
     deleteSegmentizedGeometry = true;
   }
 
-  context.expressionContext().appendScope( mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope() );
-  QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( this, mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope() );
-  mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope()->setVariable( "geometry_part_count", segmentizedGeometry->geometry()->partCount() );
-  mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope()->setVariable( "geometry_part_num", 1 );
+  if ( mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope() )
+  {
+    context.expressionContext().appendScope( mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope() );
+    QgsExpressionContextUtils::updateSymbolScope( this, mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope() );
+    mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope()->setVariable( "geometry_part_count", segmentizedGeometry->geometry()->partCount() );
+    mSymbolRenderContext->expressionContextScope()->setVariable( "geometry_part_num", 1 );
+  }
 
   switch ( QgsWKBTypes::flatType( segmentizedGeometry->geometry()->wkbType() ) )
   {
diff --git a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgs25drendererwidget.cpp b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgs25drendererwidget.cpp
index 08becf4ddb8..ce1b168147a 100644
--- a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgs25drendererwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgs25drendererwidget.cpp
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Qgs25DRendererWidget::Qgs25DRendererWidget( QgsVectorLayer* layer, QgsStyleV2* s
   QgsExpressionContextScope* scope = QgsExpressionContextUtils::layerScope( mLayer );
   QVariant height = scope->variable( "qgis_25d_height" );
   QVariant angle = scope->variable( "qgis_25d_angle" );
+  delete scope;
 
   mHeightWidget->setField( height.isNull() ? "10" : height.toString() );
   mAngleWidget->setValue( angle.isNull() ? 70 : angle.toDouble() );
diff --git a/src/providers/virtual/qgsvirtuallayersqlitemodule.cpp b/src/providers/virtual/qgsvirtuallayersqlitemodule.cpp
index c3699bd839b..e4b7b3bc223 100644
--- a/src/providers/virtual/qgsvirtuallayersqlitemodule.cpp
+++ b/src/providers/virtual/qgsvirtuallayersqlitemodule.cpp
@@ -523,9 +523,9 @@ int vtableBestIndex( sqlite3_vtab *pvtab, sqlite3_index_info* indexInfo )
           break;
 #ifdef SQLITE_INDEX_CONSTRAINT_LIKE
         case SQLITE_INDEX_CONSTRAINT_LIKE:
-#endif
           expr += " LIKE ";
           break;
+#endif
         default:
           break;
       }
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
index c663e985d4a..27fcb761968 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ void TestQgsExpressionContext::contextStack()
   QVERIFY( !context.isReadOnly( "test" ) );
 
   // Check scopes can be popped
-  context.popScope();
+  delete context.popScope();
   QCOMPARE( scopes.length(), 2 );
   QCOMPARE( scopes.at( 0 ), scope1 );
 }