diff --git a/data/pch/mitsuba_precompiled.hpp b/data/pch/mitsuba_precompiled.hpp
index cbe1e530..9d31a26d 100644
--- a/data/pch/mitsuba_precompiled.hpp
+++ b/data/pch/mitsuba_precompiled.hpp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 #include <mitsuba/core/constants.h>
 #include <mitsuba/core/fwd.h>
 #include <mitsuba/render/fwd.h>
-#include <mitsuba/core/stl.h>
+#include <mitsuba/core/math.h>
 #include <mitsuba/core/object.h>
 #include <mitsuba/core/ref.h>
 #include <mitsuba/core/tls.h>
diff --git a/include/mitsuba/core/platform.h b/include/mitsuba/core/platform.h
index 00c9791a..e949545e 100644
--- a/include/mitsuba/core/platform.h
+++ b/include/mitsuba/core/platform.h
@@ -189,6 +189,55 @@ extern MTS_EXPORT_CORE void __mts_set_appdefaults();
 #define MTS_AUTORELEASE_BEGIN()
 #define MTS_AUTORELEASE_END()
 #endif
+
 MTS_NAMESPACE_END
 
+
+/// \cond
+// Try to make MSVC++ behave a bit more like C++
+// with an underlying C99 implementation
+// (and dn't include this in the documentation)
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+
+#include <float.h>
+
+#define snprintf _snprintf
+#define vsnprintf _vsnprintf
+
+namespace std {
+
+	inline char tolower(char c) {
+		return ::tolower(c);
+	}
+
+	inline char toupper(char c) {
+		return ::toupper(c);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isnan(float f) {
+		return _isnan(f);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isnan(double f) {
+		return _isnan(f);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isfinite(float f) {
+		return _finite(f);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isfinite(double f) {
+		return _finite(f);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isinf(float f) {
+		return !_finite(f);
+	}
+
+	inline bool isinf(double f) {
+		return !_finite(f);
+	}
+};
+#endif
+
 #endif /* __MITSUBA_CORE_PLATFORM_H_ */
diff --git a/include/mitsuba/core/stl.h b/include/mitsuba/core/stl.h
index 05eb48ef..f12a2a6c 100644
--- a/include/mitsuba/core/stl.h
+++ b/include/mitsuba/core/stl.h
@@ -20,90 +20,6 @@
 #if !defined(__MITSUBA_CORE_STL_H_)
 #define __MITSUBA_CORE_STL_H_
 
-/* Include some SGI STL extensions, which might be missing */
-#ifdef __GNUC__
-#include <ext/functional>
-using __gnu_cxx::select2nd;
-using __gnu_cxx::compose1;
-#else
-#include <functional>
-
-/// \cond
-// (Don't include in the documentation)
-namespace std {
-	template <class _Pair> struct _Select1st : public unary_function<_Pair, typename _Pair::first_type> {
-		const typename _Pair::first_type& operator()(const _Pair& __x) const {
-			return __x.first;
-		}
-	};
-
-	template <class _Pair> struct _Select2nd : public unary_function<_Pair, typename _Pair::second_type> {
-		const typename _Pair::second_type& operator()(const _Pair& __x) const {
-			return __x.second;
-		}
-	};
-
-	template <class _Pair> struct select1st : public _Select1st<_Pair> {};
-	template <class _Pair> struct select2nd : public _Select2nd<_Pair> {};
-
-	template <class _Operation1, class _Operation2> class unary_compose : public unary_function<typename _Operation2::argument_type, typename _Operation1::result_type> {
-	protected:
-		_Operation1 _M_fn1;
-		_Operation2 _M_fn2;
-	public:
-		unary_compose(const _Operation1& __x, const _Operation2& __y) : _M_fn1(__x), _M_fn2(__y) {}
-		typename _Operation1::result_type operator()(const typename _Operation2::argument_type& __x) const {
-			return _M_fn1(_M_fn2(__x));
-		}
-	};
-
-	template <class _Operation1, class _Operation2> inline unary_compose<_Operation1,_Operation2> compose1(const _Operation1& __fn1, const _Operation2& __fn2) {
-		return unary_compose<_Operation1,_Operation2>(__fn1, __fn2);
-	}
-
-#if defined(_MSC_VER)
-	#include <float.h>
-
-	#define snprintf _snprintf
-	#define vsnprintf _vsnprintf
-
-	inline char tolower(char c) {
-		return ::tolower(c);
-	}
-
-	inline char toupper(char c) {
-		return ::toupper(c);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isnan(float f) {
-		return _isnan(f);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isnan(double f) {
-		return _isnan(f);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isfinite(float f) {
-		return _finite(f);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isfinite(double f) {
-		return _finite(f);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isinf(float f) {
-		return !_finite(f);
-	}
-
-	inline bool isinf(double f) {
-		return !_finite(f);
-	}
-#endif
-};
-using std::select2nd;
-using std::compose1;
-#endif
-
 namespace mitsuba {
 namespace math {
 #if defined(__LINUX__) && defined(__x86_64__)
diff --git a/src/libcore/class.cpp b/src/libcore/class.cpp
index 954b4f05..5fb696df 100644
--- a/src/libcore/class.cpp
+++ b/src/libcore/class.cpp
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ void Class::initializeOnce(Class *theClass) {
 }
 
 void Class::staticInitialization() {
-	std::for_each(__classes->begin(), __classes->end(),
-		compose1(std::ptr_fun(initializeOnce),
-		select2nd<ClassMap::value_type>()));
+	for (ClassMap::iterator it = __classes->begin();
+			it != __classes->end(); ++it)
+		initializeOnce(it->second);
 	m_isInitialized = true;
 }