diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 71f04991d..60352732c 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -1068,7 +1068,7 @@ if not preconfigured:
 
     # libxml2 should be optional but is currently not
     # https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/issues/913
-    if conf.parse_config('XML2_CONFIG'):
+    if conf.parse_config('XML2_CONFIG',checks='--cflags'):
         env['HAS_LIBXML2'] = True
 
     LIBSHEADERS = [
diff --git a/src/build.py b/src/build.py
index 211248212..b14b351b4 100644
--- a/src/build.py
+++ b/src/build.py
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ if env['THREADING'] == 'multi':
 if env['RUNTIME_LINK'] == 'static':
     if 'icuuc' in env['ICU_LIB_NAME']:
         lib_env['LIBS'].append('icudata')
+        lib_env['LIBS'].append('icui18n')
 else:
     if env['INTERNAL_LIBAGG']:
           lib_env['LIBS'].insert(0, 'agg')
diff --git a/src/image_util.cpp b/src/image_util.cpp
index 5b3b46454..dfc1c54c6 100644
--- a/src/image_util.cpp
+++ b/src/image_util.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ extern "C"
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CAIRO
 #include <mapnik/cairo_renderer.hpp>
+#include <cairo-features.h>
 #endif
 
 #include <boost/foreach.hpp>
@@ -371,17 +372,40 @@ void save_to_cairo_file(mapnik::Map const& map,
         unsigned width = map.width();
         unsigned height = map.height();
         if (type == "pdf")
+        {
+#if defined(CAIRO_HAS_PDF_SURFACE)
             surface = Cairo::PdfSurface::create(filename,width,height);
+#else
+            throw ImageWriterException("PDFSurface not supported in the cairo backend");
+#endif
+        }
+#if defined(CAIRO_HAS_SVG_SURFACE)
         else if (type == "svg")
+        {
             surface = Cairo::SvgSurface::create(filename,width,height);
+        }
+#endif
+#if defined(CAIRO_HAS_PS_SURFACE)
         else if (type == "ps")
+        {
             surface = Cairo::PsSurface::create(filename,width,height);
+        }
+#endif
+#if defined(CAIRO_HAS_IMAGE_SURFACE)
         else if (type == "ARGB32")
+        {
             surface = Cairo::ImageSurface::create(Cairo::FORMAT_ARGB32,width,height);
+        }
         else if (type == "RGB24")
+        {
             surface = Cairo::ImageSurface::create(Cairo::FORMAT_RGB24,width,height);
+        }
+#endif
         else
+        {
             throw ImageWriterException("unknown file type: " + type);
+        }
+
         Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> context = Cairo::Context::create(surface);
 
         // TODO - expose as user option
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index 1ca110d77..d27071c42 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -1069,7 +1069,9 @@ void map_parser::parse_text_symbolizer(rule & rule, xml_node const& sym)
         }
         if (strict_ &&
             !placement_finder->defaults.format.fontset.size())
+        {
             ensure_font_face(placement_finder->defaults.format.face_name);
+        }
 
         text_symbolizer text_symbol = text_symbolizer(placement_finder);
         parse_metawriter_in_symbolizer(text_symbol, sym);
@@ -1096,7 +1098,9 @@ void map_parser::parse_shield_symbolizer(rule & rule, xml_node const& sym)
         placement_finder->defaults.from_xml(sym, fontsets_);
         if (strict_ &&
             !placement_finder->defaults.format.fontset.size())
+        {
             ensure_font_face(placement_finder->defaults.format.face_name);
+        }
 
         shield_symbolizer shield_symbol = shield_symbolizer(placement_finder);
         /* Symbolizer specific attributes. */