diff --git a/utl/flatbuffer/vw_to_flat.cc b/utl/flatbuffer/vw_to_flat.cc
index 1245bed8796..11dba82eb59 100644
--- a/utl/flatbuffer/vw_to_flat.cc
+++ b/utl/flatbuffer/vw_to_flat.cc
@@ -363,7 +363,8 @@ void to_flat::convert_txt_to_flat(VW::workspace& all)
   MultiExampleBuilder multi_ex_builder;
   ExampleBuilder ex_builder;
 
-  VW::example* ae = all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.pop();
+  VW::example* ae = nullptr;
+  all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.try_pop(ae);
 
   while (ae != nullptr && !ae->end_pass)
   {
@@ -454,7 +455,8 @@ void to_flat::convert_txt_to_flat(VW::workspace& all)
         ex_builder.clear();
         _multi_ex_index++;
         _examples++;
-        ae = all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.pop();
+        ae = nullptr;
+        all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.try_pop(ae);
         continue;
       }
       else
@@ -472,7 +474,8 @@ void to_flat::convert_txt_to_flat(VW::workspace& all)
 
     write_to_file(collection, all.l->is_multiline(), multi_ex_builder, ex_builder, outfile);
 
-    ae = all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.pop();
+    ae = nullptr;
+    all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.try_pop(ae);
   }
 
   if (collection && _collection_count > 0)
diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/parser.h b/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/parser.h
index 12affc4a495..7b96485349a 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/parser.h
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/parser.h
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ struct parser
   std::vector<VW::string_view> words;
 
   VW::object_pool<VW::example> example_pool;
-  VW::ptr_queue<VW::example> ready_parsed_examples;
+  VW::thread_safe_queue<VW::example*> ready_parsed_examples;
 
   io_buf input;  // Input source(s)
 
diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/queue.h b/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/queue.h
index c1451ff1b38..e79a5f6859e 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/queue.h
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/include/vw/core/queue.h
@@ -23,30 +23,30 @@
 namespace VW
 {
 template <typename T>
-class ptr_queue
+class thread_safe_queue
 {
 public:
-  ptr_queue(size_t max_size) : max_size(max_size) {}
+  thread_safe_queue(size_t max_size) : max_size(max_size) {}
 
-  T* pop()
+  bool try_pop(T& item)
   {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mut);
     while (object_queue.size() == 0 && !done) { is_not_empty.wait(lock); }
 
-    if (done && object_queue.size() == 0) { return nullptr; }
+    if (done && object_queue.size() == 0) { return false; }
 
-    auto item = object_queue.front();
+    item = std::move(object_queue.front());
     object_queue.pop();
 
     is_not_full.notify_all();
-    return item;
+    return true;
   }
 
-  void push(T* item)
+  void push(T item)
   {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mut);
     while (object_queue.size() == max_size) { is_not_full.wait(lock); }
-    object_queue.push(item);
+    object_queue.push(std::move(item));
 
     is_not_empty.notify_all();
   }
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class ptr_queue
 
 private:
   size_t max_size;
-  std::queue<T*> object_queue;
+  std::queue<T> object_queue;
   mutable std::mutex mut;
 
   volatile bool done = false;
diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/parser.cc b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/parser.cc
index 68436aad69e..283a154ed23 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/parser.cc
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/parser.cc
@@ -913,14 +913,19 @@ void finish_example(VW::workspace& all, example& ec)
 
 void thread_dispatch(VW::workspace& all, const VW::multi_ex& examples)
 {
-  for (auto example : examples) { all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.push(example); }
+  for (auto* example : examples) { all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.push(example); }
 }
 
 void main_parse_loop(VW::workspace* all) { parse_dispatch(*all, thread_dispatch); }
 
 namespace VW
 {
-example* get_example(parser* p) { return p->ready_parsed_examples.pop(); }
+example* get_example(parser* p)
+{
+  example* ex = nullptr;
+  p->ready_parsed_examples.try_pop(ex);
+  return ex;
+}
 
 float get_topic_prediction(example* ec, size_t i) { return ec->pred.scalars[i]; }
 
@@ -980,9 +985,13 @@ void free_parser(VW::workspace& all)
 
   while (all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.size() > 0)
   {
-    auto* current = all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.pop();
-    // this function also handles examples that were not from the pool.
-    VW::finish_example(all, *current);
+    VW::example* current = nullptr;
+    all.example_parser->ready_parsed_examples.try_pop(current);
+    if (current != nullptr)
+    {
+      // this function also handles examples that were not from the pool.
+      VW::finish_example(all, *current);
+    }
   }
 
   // There should be no examples in flight at this point.