diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp b/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
index fd0c47d9..f73e56e1 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ string lua_on_event = "on_event";
 //
 void do_inspect(sinsp* inspector,
 		digwatch_rules* rules,
-		digwatch_formats* formats,
 		lua_State* ls)
 {
 	int32_t res;
@@ -119,7 +118,6 @@ int digwatch_init(int argc, char **argv)
 	int result = EXIT_SUCCESS;
 	sinsp* inspector = NULL;
 	digwatch_rules* rules = NULL;
-	digwatch_formats* formats = NULL;
 	int op;
 	sinsp_evt::param_fmt event_buffer_format = sinsp_evt::PF_NORMAL;
 	int long_index = 0;
@@ -216,7 +214,9 @@ int digwatch_init(int argc, char **argv)
 		luaL_openlibs(ls);
 
 		rules = new digwatch_rules(inspector, ls, lua_main_filename, lua_dir);
-		formats = new digwatch_formats(inspector, ls);
+
+		digwatch_formats::init(inspector, ls);
+		digwatch_fields::init(inspector, ls);
 
 		rules->load_rules(rules_file);
 		inspector->set_filter(rules->get_filter());
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ int digwatch_init(int argc, char **argv)
 
 		do_inspect(inspector,
 			   rules,
-			   formats,
 			   ls);
 
 		inspector->close();
diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/formats.cpp b/userspace/digwatch/formats.cpp
index c2670960..b6063f16 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/formats.cpp
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/formats.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "formats.h"
 
 
-sinsp* g_inspector;
+sinsp* digwatch_formats::s_inspector = NULL;
 
 const static struct luaL_reg ll_digwatch [] =
 {
@@ -10,13 +10,11 @@ const static struct luaL_reg ll_digwatch [] =
 	{NULL,NULL}
 };
 
-digwatch_formats::digwatch_formats(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls)
+void digwatch_formats::init(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls)
 {
-	g_inspector = inspector;
+	s_inspector = inspector;
 
-	m_ls = ls;
-
-	luaL_openlib(m_ls, "digwatch", ll_digwatch, 0);
+	luaL_openlib(ls, "digwatch", ll_digwatch, 0);
 }
 
 int digwatch_formats::formatter(lua_State *ls)
@@ -25,7 +23,7 @@ int digwatch_formats::formatter(lua_State *ls)
 	sinsp_evt_formatter* formatter;
 	try
 	{
-		formatter = new sinsp_evt_formatter(g_inspector, format);
+		formatter = new sinsp_evt_formatter(s_inspector, format);
 	}
 	catch(sinsp_exception& e)
 	{
diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/formats.h b/userspace/digwatch/formats.h
index 1108c094..3f9fc7cc 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/formats.h
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/formats.h
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class sinsp_evt_formatter;
 class digwatch_formats
 {
  public:
-	digwatch_formats(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls);
+	static void init(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls);
 
 	// formatter = digwatch.formatter(format_string)
 	static int formatter(lua_State *ls);
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ class digwatch_formats
 	// formatted_string = digwatch.format_event(evt, formatter)
 	static int format_event(lua_State *ls);
 
+	static sinsp* s_inspector;
+
  private:
 	lua_State* m_ls;
 };