diff --git a/mobile/lib/app.dart b/mobile/lib/app.dart
index f9f73d766b..d368c1d701 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/app.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/app.dart
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import 'package:media_extension/media_extension_action_types.dart';
 import 'package:photos/ente_theme_data.dart';
 import "package:photos/generated/l10n.dart";
 import "package:photos/l10n/l10n.dart";
+import "package:photos/service_locator.dart";
 import 'package:photos/services/app_lifecycle_service.dart';
 import "package:photos/services/home_widget_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart";
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ class _EnteAppState extends State<EnteApp> with WidgetsBindingObserver {
     if (Platform.isAndroid || kDebugMode) {
       return Listener(
         onPointerDown: (event) {
-          MachineLearningController.instance.onUserInteraction();
+          machineLearningController.onUserInteraction();
         },
         child: AdaptiveTheme(
           light: lightThemeData,
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ class _EnteAppState extends State<EnteApp> with WidgetsBindingObserver {
     } else {
       return Listener(
         onPointerDown: (event) {
-          MachineLearningController.instance.onUserInteraction();
+          machineLearningController.onUserInteraction();
         },
         child: MaterialApp(
           title: "ente",
diff --git a/mobile/lib/main.dart b/mobile/lib/main.dart
index 74ad7a99f4..2270b0cabd 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/main.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/main.dart
@@ -282,8 +282,6 @@ Future<void> _init(bool isBackground, {String via = ''}) async {
     }
     _logger.info("PushService/HomeWidget done $tlog");
     unawaited(SemanticSearchService.instance.init());
-    MachineLearningController.instance.init();
-    _logger.info("MachineLearningController done $tlog");
     unawaited(MLService.instance.init());
     PersonService.init(
       entityService,
diff --git a/mobile/lib/service_locator.dart b/mobile/lib/service_locator.dart
index 2f023e229b..d3bde456ff 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/service_locator.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/service_locator.dart
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import "package:photos/gateways/entity_gw.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/billing_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/entity_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/location_service.dart";
+import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/magic_cache_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/storage_bonus_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/trash_sync_service.dart";
@@ -123,3 +124,9 @@ BillingService get billingService {
   );
   return _billingService!;
 }
+
+MachineLearningController? _machineLearningController;
+MachineLearningController get machineLearningController {
+  _machineLearningController ??= MachineLearningController();
+  return _machineLearningController!;
+}
diff --git a/mobile/lib/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart b/mobile/lib/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart
index ee8ecc67f3..09503185cc 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ import "package:photos/events/machine_learning_control_event.dart";
 class MachineLearningController {
   MachineLearningController._privateConstructor();
 
-  static final MachineLearningController instance =
-      MachineLearningController._privateConstructor();
-
   final _logger = Logger("MachineLearningController");
 
   static const kMaximumTemperature = 42; // 42 degree celsius
@@ -29,8 +26,8 @@ class MachineLearningController {
 
   bool get isDeviceHealthy => _isDeviceHealthy;
 
-  void init() {
-    _logger.info('init called');
+  MachineLearningController() {
+    _logger.info('MachineLearningController constructor');
     _startInteractionTimer(kDefaultInteractionTimeout);
     if (Platform.isIOS) {
       BatteryInfoPlugin()
diff --git a/mobile/lib/ui/settings/ml/machine_learning_settings_page.dart b/mobile/lib/ui/settings/ml/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
index 67b8235421..ec873100ca 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/ui/settings/ml/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/ui/settings/ml/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import "package:photos/l10n/l10n.dart";
 import "package:photos/service_locator.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/face_ml/face_detection/face_detection_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/face_ml/face_embedding/face_embedding_service.dart";
-import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/machine_learning_controller.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/ml_service.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/semantic_search/clip/clip_image_encoder.dart";
 import "package:photos/services/machine_learning/semantic_search/clip/clip_text_encoder.dart";
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ class _MachineLearningSettingsPageState
   void initState() {
     super.initState();
     _wakeLock.enable();
-    MachineLearningController.instance.forceOverrideML(turnOn: true);
+    machineLearningController.forceOverrideML(turnOn: true);
     if (!MLService.instance.areModelsDownloaded) {
       _timer = Timer.periodic(const Duration(seconds: 10), (timer) {
         if (mounted) {
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ class _MachineLearningSettingsPageState
   void dispose() {
     super.dispose();
     _wakeLock.disable();
-    MachineLearningController.instance.forceOverrideML(turnOn: false);
+    machineLearningController.forceOverrideML(turnOn: false);
     _timer?.cancel();
     _advancedOptionsTimer?.cancel();
   }
@@ -424,7 +423,7 @@ class MLStatusWidgetState extends State<MLStatusWidget> {
           builder: (context, snapshot) {
             if (snapshot.hasData) {
               final bool isDeviceHealthy =
-                  MachineLearningController.instance.isDeviceHealthy;
+                  machineLearningController.isDeviceHealthy;
               final int indexedFiles = snapshot.data!.indexedItems;
               final int pendingFiles = snapshot.data!.pendingItems;
               final bool hasWifi = snapshot.data!.hasWifiEnabled!;