diff --git a/src/VirtualLeaf.cpp b/src/VirtualLeaf.cpp
--- a/src/VirtualLeaf.cpp
+++ b/src/VirtualLeaf.cpp
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv) {
     stringstream error_message;
     error_message << "I/O failure: " << strerror(errno);
     if (batch) {
-      cerr << error_message.str() <<endl;
+      cerr << error_message.str().c_str() <<endl;
       abort();
     } else {
       QString qmess(error_message.str().c_str());
diff --git a/src/canvas.cpp b/src/canvas.cpp
--- a/src/canvas.cpp
+++ b/src/canvas.cpp
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ void Main::saveStateXML()
       mesh.XMLSave((const char *)fileName, XMLSettingsTree());
       QString status_message;
       status_message = QString("Wrote LeafML to %1").arg(fileName);
-      cerr << status_message.toStdString() << endl;
+      cerr << status_message.toStdString().c_str() << endl;
       statusBar()->showMessage(status_message);
     }
   }
@@ -782,7 +782,7 @@ void Main::snapshot()
       } else {
 	status_message = QString("Error writing snapshot to %1").arg(fileName);
       }
-      cerr << status_message.toStdString() << endl;
+      cerr << status_message.toStdString().c_str() << endl;
       statusBar()->showMessage(status_message);
 
     }
@@ -846,7 +846,7 @@ int Main::readStateXML(const char *filen
 
     Plot();
     QString status_message = QString("Successfully read leaf from file %1. Time is %2 h.").arg(currentFile).arg(mesh.getTimeHours().c_str());
-    cerr << status_message.toStdString() << endl;
+    cerr << status_message.toStdString().c_str() << endl;
     setCaption(caption_with_file.arg(filename));
     statusBar()->message(status_message);
     emit ParsChanged();
diff --git a/src/modelcatalogue.cpp b/src/modelcatalogue.cpp
--- a/src/modelcatalogue.cpp
+++ b/src/modelcatalogue.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ void ModelCatalogue::PopulateModelMenu()
 void ModelCatalogue::InstallModel(QAction *modelaction) {
   QVariant data = modelaction->data();
   SimPluginInterface *model = data.value<SimPluginInterface *>();
-  cerr << "You chose model " << model->ModelID().toStdString() << "!\n";
+  cerr << "You chose model " << model->ModelID().toStdString().c_str() << "!\n";
   mesh->Clean();
   InstallModel(model);
 }
diff --git a/src/parameter.cpp b/src/parameter.cpp
--- a/src/parameter.cpp
+++ b/src/parameter.cpp
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ void Parameter::Write(ostream &os) const
   os << " xml_storage_stride = " << xml_storage_stride << endl;
   if (datadir) {
                                      QDir dataDir = QDir::home().relativeFilePath(datadir);
-                                     os << " datadir = " << dataDir.dirName().toStdString() << endl;
+                                     os << " datadir = " << dataDir.dirName().toStdString().c_str() << endl;
                                  }
                                  else {
                                      os << "datadir = ." << endl;
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ xmlNewProp(xmlpar, BAD_CAST "val", BAD_C
 
   if (datadir) {
                                      QDir dataDir = QDir::home().relativeFilePath(datadir);
-                                     text << dataDir.dirName().toStdString();
+                                     text << dataDir.dirName().toStdString().c_str();
                                    }
 xmlNewProp(xmlpar, BAD_CAST "val", BAD_CAST text.str().c_str());
 }
diff --git a/src/xmlwrite.cpp b/src/xmlwrite.cpp
--- a/src/xmlwrite.cpp
+++ b/src/xmlwrite.cpp
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@ void Wall::XMLAdd(xmlNode *parent) const
 
   {
     ostringstream text;
-    text << WallTypetoStr(wall_type);
+    text << WallTypetoStr(wall_type).c_str();
     xmlNewProp(xmlwall, BAD_CAST "wall_type", BAD_CAST text.str().c_str());
   }