diff --git a/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp b/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
index f0db516e1..82c8ded0b 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public:
 class node_not_found: public std::exception
 {
 public:
-    node_not_found(std::string node_name);
+    node_not_found(std::string const& node_name);
     virtual const char* what() const throw();
     ~node_not_found() throw ();
 private:
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class xml_node
 public:
     typedef std::list<xml_node>::const_iterator const_iterator;
     typedef std::map<std::string, xml_attribute> attribute_map;
-    xml_node(xml_tree &tree, std::string name, unsigned line=0, bool text_node = false);
+    xml_node(xml_tree &tree, std::string const& name, unsigned line=0, bool text_node = false);
 
     std::string const& name() const;
     std::string const& text() const;
diff --git a/src/libxml2_loader.cpp b/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
index d95e145ca..31b235cb6 100644
--- a/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
+++ b/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ private:
             break;
             case XML_TEXT_NODE:
             {
-                std::string trimmed = boost::algorithm::trim_copy(std::string((char*)cur_node->content));
+                std::string trimmed((char*)cur_node->content);
+                boost::algorithm::trim(trimmed);
                 if (trimmed.empty()) break; //Don't add empty text nodes
                 node.add_child(trimmed, cur_node->line, true);
             }
diff --git a/src/xml_tree.cpp b/src/xml_tree.cpp
index 940832782..26c3a3bf7 100644
--- a/src/xml_tree.cpp
+++ b/src/xml_tree.cpp
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ xml_attribute::xml_attribute(std::string const& value_)
 
 /****************************************************************************/
 
-node_not_found::node_not_found(std::string node_name)
+node_not_found::node_not_found(std::string const& node_name)
     : node_name_(node_name)
 {
 
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ more_than_one_child::~more_than_one_child() throw()
 
 /****************************************************************************/
 
-xml_node::xml_node(xml_tree &tree, std::string name, unsigned line, bool text_node)
+xml_node::xml_node(xml_tree &tree, std::string const& name, unsigned line, bool text_node)
     : tree_(tree),
       name_(name),
       text_node_(text_node),