diff --git a/apple/MarkdownTextInputDecoratorView.mm b/apple/MarkdownTextInputDecoratorView.mm
index bffb8ade..bc9cbf4b 100644
--- a/apple/MarkdownTextInputDecoratorView.mm
+++ b/apple/MarkdownTextInputDecoratorView.mm
@@ -81,12 +81,9 @@ - (void)didMoveToWindow {
   } else if ([backedTextInputView isKindOfClass:[RCTUITextView class]]) {
     _textView = (RCTUITextView *)backedTextInputView;
 
-    _markdownTextStorageDelegate = [[MarkdownTextStorageDelegate alloc] init];
-    _markdownTextStorageDelegate.markdownUtils = _markdownUtils;
-    _markdownTextStorageDelegate.textView = _textView;
-
     // register delegate for future edits
     react_native_assert(_textView.textStorage.delegate == nil);
+    _markdownTextStorageDelegate = [[MarkdownTextStorageDelegate alloc] initWithTextView:_textView markdownUtils:_markdownUtils];
     _textView.textStorage.delegate = _markdownTextStorageDelegate;
 
 #ifdef RCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED
diff --git a/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.h b/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.h
index bfdebbbd..e7cb244a 100644
--- a/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.h
+++ b/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.h
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
 
 @interface MarkdownTextStorageDelegate : NSObject <NSTextStorageDelegate>
 
-@property(nonatomic, nullable) RCTMarkdownUtils *markdownUtils;
-
-@property(nonatomic, nullable, strong) RCTUITextView *textView;
+- (instancetype)initWithTextView:(nonnull RCTUITextView *)textView markdownUtils:(nonnull RCTMarkdownUtils *)markdownUtils;
 
 @end
 
diff --git a/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.mm b/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.mm
index ffd13a58..86051953 100644
--- a/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.mm
+++ b/apple/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.mm
@@ -1,11 +1,24 @@
 #import <RNLiveMarkdown/MarkdownTextStorageDelegate.h>
 #import "react_native_assert.h"
 
-@implementation MarkdownTextStorageDelegate
+@implementation MarkdownTextStorageDelegate {
+  RCTMarkdownUtils *markdownUtils;
+  RCTUITextView *textView;
+}
+
+- (instancetype)initWithTextView:(nonnull RCTUITextView *)textView markdownUtils:(nonnull RCTMarkdownUtils *)markdownUtils
+{
+  if ((self = [super init])) {
+    react_native_assert(_textView != nil);
+    react_native_assert(_markdownUtils != nil);
+
+    _textView = textView;
+    _markdownUtils = markdownUtils;
+  }
+  return self;
+}
 
 - (void)textStorage:(NSTextStorage *)textStorage didProcessEditing:(NSTextStorageEditActions)editedMask range:(NSRange)editedRange changeInLength:(NSInteger)delta {
-  react_native_assert(_markdownUtils != nil);
-  react_native_assert(_textView != nil);
   react_native_assert(_textView.defaultTextAttributes != nil);
 
   [_markdownUtils applyFormatting:textStorage withDefaultTextAttributes:_textView.defaultTextAttributes];