diff --git a/include/zenoh-pico/session/matching.h b/include/zenoh-pico/session/matching.h
index 143fb13f1..6bbaab107 100644
--- a/include/zenoh-pico/session/matching.h
+++ b/include/zenoh-pico/session/matching.h
@@ -47,8 +47,15 @@ typedef struct {
     _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx;
 } _z_matching_listener_state_t;
 
-_Z_ELEM_DEFINE(_z_matching_listener, _z_matching_listener_state_t, _z_noop_size, _z_noop_clear, _z_noop_copy,
-               _z_noop_move)
+_z_matching_listener_ctx_t *_z_matching_listener_ctx_new(_z_closure_matching_status_t callback);
+void _z_matching_listener_ctx_clear(_z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx);
+
+_z_matching_listener_state_t *_z_matching_listener_state_new(uint32_t interest_id, _z_zint_t entity_id,
+                                                             _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx);
+void _z_matching_listener_state_clear(_z_matching_listener_state_t *state);
+
+_Z_ELEM_DEFINE(_z_matching_listener, _z_matching_listener_state_t, _z_noop_size, _z_matching_listener_state_clear,
+               _z_noop_copy, _z_noop_move)
 _Z_INT_MAP_DEFINE(_z_matching_listener, _z_matching_listener_state_t)
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/net/matching.c b/src/net/matching.c
index c74811e97..d7cd27e25 100644
--- a/src/net/matching.c
+++ b/src/net/matching.c
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include "zenoh-pico/net/session.h"
 #include "zenoh-pico/session/matching.h"
 #include "zenoh-pico/session/resource.h"
-#include "zenoh-pico/utils/logging.h"
 #include "zenoh-pico/utils/result.h"
 
 #if Z_FEATURE_MATCHING == 1
@@ -55,28 +54,25 @@ _z_matching_listener_t _z_matching_listener_declare(_z_session_rc_t *zn, const _
                                                     _z_closure_matching_status_t callback) {
     uint8_t flags = _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_KEYEXPRS | _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_SUBSCRIBERS | _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_RESTRICTED |
                     _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_CURRENT | _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_FUTURE | _Z_INTEREST_FLAG_AGGREGATE;
-    _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx = z_malloc(sizeof(_z_matching_listener_ctx_t));
-
     _z_matching_listener_t ret = _z_matching_listener_null();
+
+    _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx = _z_matching_listener_ctx_new(callback);
     if (ctx == NULL) {
         return ret;
     }
-    ctx->decl_id = 0;
-    ctx->callback = callback;
+
     ret._interest_id = _z_add_interest(_Z_RC_IN_VAL(zn), _z_keyexpr_alias_from_user_defined(*key, true),
                                        _z_matching_listener_callback, flags, (void *)ctx);
     if (ret._interest_id == 0) {
-        z_free(ctx);
+        _z_matching_listener_ctx_clear(ctx);
         return ret;
     }
 
     ret._id = _z_get_entity_id(_Z_RC_IN_VAL(zn));
     ret._zn = _z_session_rc_clone_as_weak(zn);
 
-    _z_matching_listener_state_t state;
-    state.entity_id = entity_id;
-    state.interest_id = ret._interest_id;
-    _z_matching_listener_intmap_insert(&_Z_RC_IN_VAL(zn)->_matching_listeners, ret._id, &state);
+    _z_matching_listener_intmap_insert(&_Z_RC_IN_VAL(zn)->_matching_listeners, ret._id,
+                                       _z_matching_listener_state_new(ret._interest_id, entity_id, ctx));
 
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/src/session/matching.c b/src/session/matching.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..793e2b3ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/session/matching.c
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2025 ZettaScale Technology
+//
+// This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+// terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 which is available at
+// http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0, or the Apache License, Version 2.0
+// which is available at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 OR Apache-2.0
+//
+// Contributors:
+//   ZettaScale Zenoh Team, <zenoh@zettascale.tech>
+//
+
+#include "zenoh-pico/session/matching.h"
+
+_z_matching_listener_ctx_t *_z_matching_listener_ctx_new(_z_closure_matching_status_t callback) {
+    _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx = z_malloc(sizeof(_z_matching_listener_ctx_t));
+
+    ctx->decl_id = 0;
+    ctx->callback = callback;
+
+    return ctx;
+}
+
+void _z_matching_listener_ctx_clear(_z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx) {
+    if (ctx->callback.drop != NULL) {
+        ctx->callback.drop(ctx->callback.context);
+    }
+}
+
+_z_matching_listener_state_t *_z_matching_listener_state_new(uint32_t interest_id, _z_zint_t entity_id,
+                                                             _z_matching_listener_ctx_t *ctx) {
+    _z_matching_listener_state_t *state = z_malloc(sizeof(_z_matching_listener_state_t));
+
+    state->interest_id = interest_id;
+    state->entity_id = entity_id;
+    state->ctx = ctx;
+
+    return state;
+}
+
+void _z_matching_listener_state_clear(_z_matching_listener_state_t *state) {
+    if (state->ctx != NULL) {
+        _z_matching_listener_ctx_clear(state->ctx);
+        z_free(state->ctx);
+    }
+}