diff --git a/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.cc b/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.cc
index 67bf736..f4f4272 100644
--- a/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.cc
+++ b/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.cc
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ static size_t const STREAM_TIMEOUT_MS = 3000;
 using namespace boost::assign;
 
 std::mutex bladerf_common::_devs_mutex;
-std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf>> bladerf_common::_devs;
+std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf> > bladerf_common::_devs;
 
 /* name for system-wide gain (which is not its own libbladeRF gain stage) */
 static const char *SYSTEM_GAIN_NAME = "system";
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ size_t num_streams(bladerf_channel_layout layout)
  * Public methods
  ******************************************************************************/
 bladerf_common::bladerf_common() :
-  _dev(NULL),
+  _dev(boost::shared_ptr<struct bladerf>()),
   _pfx("[bladeRF common] "),
   _failures(0),
   _num_buffers(NUM_BUFFERS),
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@ bladerf_sptr bladerf_common::open(std::string const &device_name)
   /* Add the device handle to our cache */
   bladerf_sptr dev = bladerf_sptr(raw_dev, bladerf_common::close);
 
-  _devs.push_back(static_cast<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf>>(dev));
+  _devs.push_back(static_cast<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf> >(dev));
 
   return dev;
 }
@@ -1115,7 +1115,7 @@ bladerf_sptr bladerf_common::open(std::string const &device_name)
 void bladerf_common::close(void *dev)
 {
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(_devs_mutex);
-  std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf>>::iterator it(_devs.begin());
+  std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf> >::iterator it(_devs.begin());
 
   /* Prune expired entries from device cache */
   while (it != _devs.end()) {
diff --git a/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.h b/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.h
index 741b1e7..32e8101 100644
--- a/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.h
+++ b/lib/bladerf/bladerf_common.h
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ private:
    * Private members
    ****************************************************************************/
   static std::mutex _devs_mutex;  /**< mutex for access to _devs */
-  static std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf>> _devs;  /**< dev cache */
+  static std::list<std::weak_ptr<struct bladerf> > _devs;  /**< dev cache */
 };
 
 #endif