diff --git a/src/ca/comQueSend.cpp b/src/ca/comQueSend.cpp
index 3d413894b..9dc0be714 100644
--- a/src/ca/comQueSend.cpp
+++ b/src/ca/comQueSend.cpp
@@ -107,7 +107,10 @@ void comQueSend::clear ()
 
 void comQueSend::copy_dbr_string ( const void * pValue )
 {
-    this->push ( * static_cast <const dbr_string_t *> ( pValue ) );
+    // this extra step is required by Borland BCC 5.5
+    const dbr_string_t & str = 
+        * static_cast <const dbr_string_t *> ( pValue );
+    this->push ( str );
 }
 
 void comQueSend::copy_dbr_short ( const void * pValue )
diff --git a/src/libCom/osi/os/WIN32/epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString.cpp b/src/libCom/osi/os/WIN32/epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString.cpp
index 4059abb7e..54a544e99 100644
--- a/src/libCom/osi/os/WIN32/epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString.cpp
+++ b/src/libCom/osi/os/WIN32/epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #define epicsExportSharedSymbols
 #include "osiSock.h"
+#include "epicsStdio.h"
 
 /*
  * epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString ()
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ void epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString (
 		    MAKELANGID ( LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT ), /* Default language */
 		    pBuf, bufSize, NULL );
 	    if ( ! success ) {
-            int status = _snprintf (
+            int status = epicsSnprintf (
                 pBuf, bufSize, "WINSOCK Error %d", theSockError );
             if ( status <= 0 ) {
                 strncpy ( pBuf, "WINSOCK Error", bufSize );