diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/export_video_dialog.cc b/gtk2_ardour/export_video_dialog.cc
index 33fd758843..0484959ee8 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/export_video_dialog.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/export_video_dialog.cc
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ ExportVideoDialog::launch_export ()
 	XMLTree tree;
 	std::string vtl_samplerate = audio_samplerate_combo.get_active_text();
 	std::string vtl_normalize = _normalize ? "true" : "false";
-	tree.read_buffer(std::string(
+	tree.read_buffer(std::string (
 "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"
 "<ExportFormatSpecification name=\"VTL-WAV-16\" id=\"3094591e-ccb9-4385-a93f-c9955ffeb1f0\">"
 "  <Encoding id=\"F_WAV\" type=\"T_Sndfile\" extension=\"wav\" name=\"WAV\" has-sample-format=\"true\" channel-limit=\"256\"/>"
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ ExportVideoDialog::launch_export ()
 "    </Silence>"
 "  </Processing>"
 "</ExportFormatSpecification>"
-));
+	).c_str());
 	boost::shared_ptr<ExportFormatSpecification> fmp = _session->get_export_handler()->add_format(*tree.root());
 
 	/* set up range */
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/sfdb_ui.cc b/gtk2_ardour/sfdb_ui.cc
index 9fcdcc367e..318efe1971 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/sfdb_ui.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/sfdb_ui.cc
@@ -1207,7 +1207,7 @@ SoundFileBrowser::freesound_search()
 void
 SoundFileBrowser::handle_freesound_results(std::string theString) {
 	XMLTree doc;
-	doc.read_buffer( theString );
+	doc.read_buffer (theString.c_str());
 	XMLNode *root = doc.root();
 
 	if (!root) {
diff --git a/session_utils/export.cc b/session_utils/export.cc
index 3bffc07f0e..bc9307703c 100644
--- a/session_utils/export.cc
+++ b/session_utils/export.cc
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ static int export_session (Session *session,
 
 	XMLTree tree;
 
-	tree.read_buffer(std::string(
+	tree.read_buffer(std::string (
 "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"
 "<ExportFormatSpecification name=\"UTIL-WAV-EXPORT\" id=\"b1280899-0459-4aef-9dc9-7e2277fa6d24\">"
 "  <Encoding id=\"F_WAV\" type=\"T_Sndfile\" extension=\"wav\" name=\"WAV\" has-sample-format=\"true\" channel-limit=\"256\"/>"
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ static int export_session (Session *session,
 "    </Silence>"
 "  </Processing>"
 "</ExportFormatSpecification>"
-));
+	).c_str());
 
 	boost::shared_ptr<ExportFormatSpecification> fmp = session->get_export_handler()->add_format(*tree.root());