diff --git a/kvdb-rocksdb/src/iter.rs b/kvdb-rocksdb/src/iter.rs
index 08ed3202..2287bc21 100644
--- a/kvdb-rocksdb/src/iter.rs
+++ b/kvdb-rocksdb/src/iter.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ impl<'a> IterationHandler for &'a DBAndColumns {
 
 	fn iter(self, col: u32, read_opts: ReadOptions) -> Self::Iterator {
 		match self.cf(col as usize) {
-			Ok(cf) => EitherIter::A(KvdbAdapter(self.db.iterator_cf_opt(cf, read_opts, IteratorMode::Start))),
+			Ok(cf) => EitherIter::A(KvdbAdapter(self.db.iterator_cf_opt(&cf, read_opts, IteratorMode::Start))),
 			Err(e) => EitherIter::B(std::iter::once(Err(e))),
 		}
 	}
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ impl<'a> IterationHandler for &'a DBAndColumns {
 	fn iter_with_prefix(self, col: u32, prefix: &[u8], read_opts: ReadOptions) -> Self::Iterator {
 		match self.cf(col as usize) {
 			Ok(cf) => EitherIter::A(KvdbAdapter(self.db.iterator_cf_opt(
-				cf,
+				&cf,
 				read_opts,
 				IteratorMode::From(prefix, Direction::Forward),
 			))),
diff --git a/kvdb-rocksdb/src/lib.rs b/kvdb-rocksdb/src/lib.rs
index 0af25f6b..1e801f8d 100644
--- a/kvdb-rocksdb/src/lib.rs
+++ b/kvdb-rocksdb/src/lib.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use std::{
 };
 
 use rocksdb::{
-	BlockBasedOptions, ColumnFamily, ColumnFamilyDescriptor, Options, ReadOptions, WriteBatch, WriteOptions, DB,
+	BlockBasedOptions, ColumnFamilyDescriptor, ColumnFamilyRef, Options, ReadOptions, WriteBatch, WriteOptions, DB
 };
 
 use kvdb::{DBKeyValue, DBOp, DBTransaction, DBValue, KeyValueDB};
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ struct DBAndColumns {
 }
 
 impl DBAndColumns {
-	fn cf(&self, i: usize) -> io::Result<&ColumnFamily> {
+	fn cf(&self, i: usize) -> io::Result<ColumnFamilyRef<'_>> {
 		let name = self.column_names.get(i).ok_or_else(|| invalid_column(i as u32))?;
 		self.db
 			.cf_handle(&name)
@@ -377,6 +377,7 @@ impl Database {
 			Err(_) => {
 				// retry and create CFs
 				match DB::open_cf(&opts, path.as_ref(), &[] as &[&str]) {
+					#[allow(unused_mut)] // warns when `multi-threaded-cf` feature is enabled on rocksdb, as `create_cf` takes an &self.
 					Ok(mut db) => {
 						for (i, name) in column_names.iter().enumerate() {
 							let _ = db
@@ -436,23 +437,23 @@ impl Database {
 			match op {
 				DBOp::Insert { col: _, key, value } => {
 					stats_total_bytes += key.len() + value.len();
-					batch.put_cf(cf, &key, &value);
+					batch.put_cf(&cf, &key, &value);
 				},
 				DBOp::Delete { col: _, key } => {
 					// We count deletes as writes.
 					stats_total_bytes += key.len();
-					batch.delete_cf(cf, &key);
+					batch.delete_cf(&cf, &key);
 				},
 				DBOp::DeletePrefix { col, prefix } => {
 					let end_prefix = kvdb::end_prefix(&prefix[..]);
 					let no_end = end_prefix.is_none();
 					let end_range = end_prefix.unwrap_or_else(|| vec![u8::max_value(); 16]);
-					batch.delete_range_cf(cf, &prefix[..], &end_range[..]);
+					batch.delete_range_cf(&cf, &prefix[..], &end_range[..]);
 					if no_end {
 						let prefix = if prefix.len() > end_range.len() { &prefix[..] } else { &end_range[..] };
 						for result in self.iter_with_prefix(col, prefix) {
 							let (key, _) = result?;
-							batch.delete_cf(cf, &key[..]);
+							batch.delete_cf(&cf, &key[..]);
 						}
 					}
 				},
@@ -470,7 +471,7 @@ impl Database {
 		self.stats.tally_reads(1);
 		let value = cfs
 			.db
-			.get_pinned_cf_opt(cf, key, &self.read_opts)
+			.get_pinned_cf_opt(&cf, key, &self.read_opts)
 			.map(|r| r.map(|v| v.to_vec()))
 			.map_err(other_io_err);
 
@@ -521,7 +522,7 @@ impl Database {
 		const ESTIMATE_NUM_KEYS: &str = "rocksdb.estimate-num-keys";
 		let cfs = &self.inner;
 		let cf = cfs.cf(col as usize)?;
-		match cfs.db.property_int_value_cf(cf, ESTIMATE_NUM_KEYS) {
+		match cfs.db.property_int_value_cf(&cf, ESTIMATE_NUM_KEYS) {
 			Ok(estimate) => Ok(estimate.unwrap_or_default()),
 			Err(err_string) => Err(other_io_err(err_string)),
 		}