diff --git a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
index 545baf7bdd..788087b76e 100644
--- a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
+++ b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
 
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
+#include <algorithm>
+
 namespace vt { namespace vrt { namespace collection { namespace balance {
 
 void LBDataHolder::outputEntity(nlohmann::json& j, ElementIDStruct const& id) const {
@@ -277,20 +279,16 @@ std::unique_ptr<nlohmann::json> LBDataHolder::toJson(PhaseType phase) const {
 }
 
 void LBDataHolder::resizeHistory(std::size_t num_to_retain) {
-  node_data_.resize(num_to_retain);
-  node_comm_.resize(num_to_retain);
-  node_subphase_comm_.resize(num_to_retain);
-  user_defined_json_.resize(num_to_retain);
-  user_defined_lb_info_.resize(num_to_retain);
-  node_user_attributes_.resize(num_to_retain);
+  auto new_size = std::max(std::size_t{1}, num_to_retain);
+
+  node_data_.resize(new_size);
+  node_comm_.resize(new_size);
+  node_subphase_comm_.resize(new_size);
+  user_defined_json_.resize(new_size);
+  user_defined_lb_info_.resize(new_size);
+  node_user_attributes_.resize(new_size);
 }
 
-LBDataHolder::LBDataHolder(std::size_t phases_history_num)
-  : node_data_(phases_history_num), node_comm_(phases_history_num),
-  node_subphase_comm_(phases_history_num), user_defined_json_(phases_history_num),
-  user_defined_lb_info_(phases_history_num), node_user_attributes_(phases_history_num)
-{ }
-
 LBDataHolder::LBDataHolder(nlohmann::json const& j)
 {
   auto this_node = theContext()->getNode();
diff --git a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
index 4fdecbd7f0..b3e5c98a8e 100644
--- a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
+++ b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
@@ -65,12 +65,7 @@ namespace vt { namespace vrt { namespace collection { namespace balance {
  * output them as JSON.
  */
 struct LBDataHolder {
-  /**
-   * \brief Construct a new \c LBDataHolder with specified history length.
-   *
-   * \param[in] phases_history_num the number of phases to retain
-   */
-  LBDataHolder(std::size_t phases_history_num);
+  LBDataHolder() = default;
 
   /**
    * \brief Create \c LBDataHolder from input JSON
diff --git a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/node_lb_data.cc b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/node_lb_data.cc
index 0ceefc8485..465572e9ad 100644
--- a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/node_lb_data.cc
+++ b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/node_lb_data.cc
@@ -139,12 +139,7 @@ void NodeLBData::resizeLBDataHistory(uint32_t new_hist_len) {
   hist_lb_data_size_ = new_hist_len;
 
   if (lb_data_) {
-    lb_data_->node_data_.resize(new_hist_len);
-    lb_data_->node_comm_.resize(new_hist_len);
-    lb_data_->node_subphase_comm_.resize(new_hist_len);
-    lb_data_->user_defined_lb_info_.resize(new_hist_len);
-    lb_data_->user_defined_json_.resize(new_hist_len);
-    lb_data_->node_user_attributes_.resize(new_hist_len);
+    lb_data_->resizeHistory(hist_lb_data_size_);
   }
 
   startIterCleanup();
@@ -155,7 +150,8 @@ ElementIDType NodeLBData::getNextElm() {
 }
 
 void NodeLBData::initialize() {
-  lb_data_ = std::make_unique<LBDataHolder>(hist_lb_data_size_);
+  lb_data_ = std::make_unique<LBDataHolder>();
+  lb_data_->resizeHistory(hist_lb_data_size_);
 
 #if vt_check_enabled(lblite)
   if (theConfig()->vt_lb_data) {
diff --git a/tests/unit/collection/test_workload_data_migrator.cc b/tests/unit/collection/test_workload_data_migrator.cc
index 2b64a56039..dd8f48e4ef 100644
--- a/tests/unit/collection/test_workload_data_migrator.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/collection/test_workload_data_migrator.cc
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ setupWorkloads(PhaseType phase, size_t numElements) {
     );
   }
 
-  auto lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>(1);
+  auto lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>();
+  lbdh->resizeHistory(1);
 
   for (auto&& elmID : myElemList) {
     double tval = elmID.id * 2;
@@ -790,7 +791,8 @@ setupManyWorkloads(
     );
   }
 
-  auto lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>(num_phases);
+  auto lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>();
+  lbdh->resizeHistory(num_phases);
 
   PhaseType stop_phase = initial_phase + num_phases;
   for (PhaseType phase = initial_phase; phase < stop_phase; ++phase) {
@@ -804,7 +806,8 @@ setupManyWorkloads(
     }
   }
 
-  auto scrambled_lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>(num_phases);
+  auto scrambled_lbdh = std::make_shared<LBDataHolder>();
+  scrambled_lbdh->resizeHistory(num_phases);
 
   for (PhaseType phase = initial_phase; phase < stop_phase; ++phase) {
     auto base_load_model = setupBaseModel(phase, lbdh);