diff --git a/src/pugixml.cpp b/src/pugixml.cpp
index c1797c5..0f3bc29 100644
--- a/src/pugixml.cpp
+++ b/src/pugixml.cpp
@@ -1841,7 +1841,7 @@ namespace pugi
 	bool xml_attribute::as_bool() const
 	{
 		// only look at first char
-		char first = (_attr && _attr->value) ? *_attr->value : 0;
+		char first = (_attr && _attr->value) ? *_attr->value : '\0';
 
 		// 1*, t* (true), T* (True), y* (yes), Y* (YES)
 		return (first == '1' || first == 't' || first == 'T' || first == 'y' || first == 'Y');
diff --git a/src/pugixpath.cpp b/src/pugixpath.cpp
index de166f4..b174e9c 100644
--- a/src/pugixpath.cpp
+++ b/src/pugixpath.cpp
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ namespace
 			}
 		}
 		
-		return buf;
+		return std::string(buf);
 	}
 	
 	double convert_string_to_number(const char* string)