diff --git a/src/fvterm.cpp b/src/fvterm.cpp
index 8869239e..e3841aeb 100644
--- a/src/fvterm.cpp
+++ b/src/fvterm.cpp
@@ -2254,7 +2254,7 @@ bool FVTerm::skipUnchangedCharacters (uInt& x, uInt xmax, uInt y) const
 
     for (uInt i = x + 1; i <= xmax; i++)
     {
-      auto& ch = vt->data[y * uInt(vt->width) + i];
+      const auto& ch = vt->data[y * uInt(vt->width) + i];
 
       if ( ch.attr.bit.no_changes )
         count++;
@@ -2999,7 +2999,7 @@ inline void FVTerm::appendChar (FChar& next_char) const
 inline void FVTerm::appendAttributes (FChar& next_attr) const
 {
   // generate attribute string for the next character
-  const auto attr_str = FTerm::changeAttribute (term_attribute, next_attr);
+  const auto& attr_str = FTerm::changeAttribute (term_attribute, next_attr);
 
   if ( attr_str )
     appendOutputBuffer (attr_str);
diff --git a/test/fstring-test.cpp b/test/fstring-test.cpp
index c24ddb2c..1f8e0662 100644
--- a/test/fstring-test.cpp
+++ b/test/fstring-test.cpp
@@ -162,7 +162,6 @@ void FStringTest::noArgumentTest()
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.isEmpty() );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.getLength() == 0 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.capacity() == 0 );
-  CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.getUTF8length() == 0 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.wc_str() == nullptr );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( empty.c_str() == nullptr );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL ( empty.toString(), std::string() );
@@ -657,7 +656,6 @@ void FStringTest::equalTest()
   constexpr char cstr[] = "abc";
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( str == cstr );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( str.getLength() == 3 );
-  CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( str.getUTF8length() == 3 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( str.capacity() == 18 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( strncmp(cstr, str.c_str(), 3) == 0 );
 
@@ -706,8 +704,6 @@ void FStringTest::notEqualTest()
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( strlen(s1.c_str()) == 3 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( s2.getLength() == 3 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( strlen(s2.c_str()) == 6 );
-  CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( s1.getUTF8length() == 3 );
-  CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( s2.getUTF8length() == 3 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( s1.capacity() == 18 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( s2.capacity() == 18 );
   CPPUNIT_ASSERT ( strncmp(cstr, s1.c_str(), 3) != 0 );