diff --git a/sstables/compaction.cc b/sstables/compaction.cc
index c8a3883b7a..27ccef6abf 100644
--- a/sstables/compaction.cc
+++ b/sstables/compaction.cc
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ static void delete_sstables_for_interrupted_compaction(std::vector<shared_sstabl
     }
 }
 
-static std::vector<shared_sstable> get_uncompacting_sstables(column_family& cf, std::vector<shared_sstable>& sstables) {
+static std::vector<shared_sstable> get_uncompacting_sstables(column_family& cf, std::vector<shared_sstable> sstables) {
     auto all_sstables = boost::copy_range<std::vector<shared_sstable>>(*cf.get_sstables_including_compacted_undeleted());
     boost::sort(all_sstables, [] (const shared_sstable& x, const shared_sstable& y) {
         return x->generation() < y->generation();
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ reshard_sstables(std::vector<shared_sstable> sstables, column_family& cf, std::f
 }
 
 std::unordered_set<sstables::shared_sstable>
-get_fully_expired_sstables(column_family& cf, std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& compacting, gc_clock::time_point gc_before) {
+get_fully_expired_sstables(column_family& cf, const std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& compacting, gc_clock::time_point gc_before) {
     clogger.debug("Checking droppable sstables in {}.{}", cf.schema()->ks_name(), cf.schema()->cf_name());
 
     if (compacting.empty()) {
diff --git a/sstables/compaction.hh b/sstables/compaction.hh
index 4764f90c33..33f8a81f9d 100644
--- a/sstables/compaction.hh
+++ b/sstables/compaction.hh
@@ -132,5 +132,5 @@ namespace sstables {
     // In simpler words, a sstable is fully expired if all of its live cells with TTL is expired
     // and possibly doesn't contain any tombstone that covers cells in other sstables.
     std::unordered_set<sstables::shared_sstable>
-    get_fully_expired_sstables(column_family& cf, std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& compacting, gc_clock::time_point gc_before);
+    get_fully_expired_sstables(column_family& cf, const std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& compacting, gc_clock::time_point gc_before);
 }
diff --git a/sstables/leveled_manifest.hh b/sstables/leveled_manifest.hh
index 8eca79b51e..f37cca5132 100644
--- a/sstables/leveled_manifest.hh
+++ b/sstables/leveled_manifest.hh
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     template <typename T>
-    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& candidates, T& others) {
+    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, const std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable>& candidates, const T& others) {
         assert(!candidates.empty());
         /*
          * Picking each sstable from others that overlap one of the sstable of candidates is not enough
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     template <typename T>
-    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, sstables::shared_sstable& sstable, T& others) {
+    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, const sstables::shared_sstable& sstable, const T& others) {
         return overlapping(s, sstable->get_first_decorated_key()._token, sstable->get_last_decorated_key()._token, others);
     }
 
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ public:
      * @return sstables from @param sstables that contain keys between @param start and @param end, inclusive.
      */
     template <typename T>
-    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, dht::token start, dht::token end, T& sstables) {
+    static std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapping(const schema& s, dht::token start, dht::token end, const T& sstables) {
         assert(start <= end);
 
         std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> overlapped;