diff --git a/taglib/asf/asfpicture.cpp b/taglib/asf/asfpicture.cpp
index d25b9a4d..4c48bb09 100644
--- a/taglib/asf/asfpicture.cpp
+++ b/taglib/asf/asfpicture.cpp
@@ -159,13 +159,13 @@ void ASF::Picture::parse(const ByteVector& bytes)
   const ByteVector nullStringTerminator(2, 0);
 
   size_t endPos = bytes.find(nullStringTerminator, pos, 2);
-  if(endPos == ByteVector::npos)
+  if(endPos == ByteVector::npos())
     return;
   d->data->mimeType = String(bytes.mid(pos, endPos - pos), String::UTF16LE);
   pos = endPos+2;
 
   endPos = bytes.find(nullStringTerminator, pos, 2);
-  if(endPos == ByteVector::npos)
+  if(endPos == ByteVector::npos())
     return;
   d->data->description = String(bytes.mid(pos, endPos - pos), String::UTF16LE);
   pos = endPos+2;
diff --git a/taglib/it/itfile.cpp b/taglib/it/itfile.cpp
index 9382d64c..e7f89dc2 100644
--- a/taglib/it/itfile.cpp
+++ b/taglib/it/itfile.cpp
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ void IT::File::read(bool)
     ByteVector messageBytes = readBlock(messageLength);
     READ_ASSERT(messageBytes.size() == messageLength);
     const size_t index = messageBytes.find((char) 0);
-    if(index != ByteVector::npos)
+    if(index != ByteVector::npos())
       messageBytes.resize(index, 0);
     messageBytes.replace('\r', '\n');
     message = messageBytes;
diff --git a/taglib/mod/modfilebase.cpp b/taglib/mod/modfilebase.cpp
index a277edb7..7f2386e2 100644
--- a/taglib/mod/modfilebase.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mod/modfilebase.cpp
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ bool Mod::FileBase::readString(String &s, uint size)
   ByteVector data(readBlock(size));
   if(data.size() < size) return false;
   const size_t index = data.find((char) 0);
-  if(index != ByteVector::npos)
-  {
+  if(index != ByteVector::npos()) {
     data.resize(index);
   }
   data.replace((char) 0xff, ' ');
diff --git a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/frames/urllinkframe.cpp b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/frames/urllinkframe.cpp
index 173ca34d..5bf48d5a 100644
--- a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/frames/urllinkframe.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/frames/urllinkframe.cpp
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ void UserUrlLinkFrame::parseFields(const ByteVector &data)
 
   if(d->textEncoding == String::Latin1 || d->textEncoding == String::UTF8) {
     const size_t offset = data.find(textDelimiter(d->textEncoding), pos);
-    if(offset == ByteVector::npos || offset < pos)
+    if(offset == ByteVector::npos() || offset < pos)
       return;
 
     d->description = String(data.mid(pos, offset - pos), d->textEncoding);
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ void UserUrlLinkFrame::parseFields(const ByteVector &data)
   }
   else {
     const size_t len = data.mid(pos).find(textDelimiter(d->textEncoding), 0, 2);
-    if(len == ByteVector::npos)
+    if(len == ByteVector::npos())
       return;
 
     d->description = String(data.mid(pos, len), d->textEncoding);
diff --git a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2frame.cpp b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2frame.cpp
index b3ec3407..9b7cfb19 100644
--- a/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2frame.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mpeg/id3v2/id3v2frame.cpp
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ String Frame::readStringField(const ByteVector &data, String::Type encoding, siz
   ByteVector delimiter = textDelimiter(encoding);
 
   const size_t end = data.find(delimiter, position, delimiter.size());
-  if(end == ByteVector::npos || end < position)
+  if(end == ByteVector::npos() || end < position)
     return String::null;
 
   String str;
diff --git a/taglib/mpeg/mpegfile.cpp b/taglib/mpeg/mpegfile.cpp
index 8ede1d67..785dce03 100644
--- a/taglib/mpeg/mpegfile.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mpeg/mpegfile.cpp
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ offset_t MPEG::File::findID3v2(offset_t offset)
     // These variables are used to keep track of a partial match that happens at
     // the end of a buffer.
 
-    size_t previousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos;
+    size_t previousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos();
     bool previousPartialSynchMatch = false;
 
     // Save the location of the current read pointer.  We will restore the
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ offset_t MPEG::File::findID3v2(offset_t offset)
       if(previousPartialSynchMatch && secondSynchByte(buffer[0]))
         return -1;
 
-      if(previousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos && bufferSize() > previousPartialMatch) {
+      if(previousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos() && bufferSize() > previousPartialMatch) {
         const size_t patternOffset = (bufferSize() - previousPartialMatch);
         if(buffer.containsAt(ID3v2::Header::fileIdentifier(), 0, patternOffset)) {
           seek(originalPosition);
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ offset_t MPEG::File::findID3v2(offset_t offset)
       // (2) pattern contained in current buffer
 
       const size_t location = buffer.find(ID3v2::Header::fileIdentifier());
-      if(location != ByteVector::npos) {
+      if(location != ByteVector::npos()) {
         seek(originalPosition);
         return offset + bufferOffset + location;
       }
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ offset_t MPEG::File::findID3v2(offset_t offset)
       // (11111111) byte, and we want to check all such instances until we find
       // a full match (11111111 111) or hit the end of the buffer.
 
-      while(firstSynchByte != ByteVector::npos) {
+      while(firstSynchByte != ByteVector::npos()) {
 
         // if this *is not* at the end of the buffer
 
diff --git a/taglib/mpeg/xingheader.cpp b/taglib/mpeg/xingheader.cpp
index 80608f18..1e3f8d56 100644
--- a/taglib/mpeg/xingheader.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mpeg/xingheader.cpp
@@ -90,10 +90,10 @@ void MPEG::XingHeader::parse(const ByteVector &data)
   // Look for a Xing header.
 
   size_t offset = data.find("Xing");
-  if(offset == ByteVector::npos)
+  if(offset == ByteVector::npos())
     offset = data.find("Info");
 
-  if(offset != ByteVector::npos) {
+  if(offset != ByteVector::npos()) {
 
     // Xing header found.
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ void MPEG::XingHeader::parse(const ByteVector &data)
 
     offset = data.find("VBRI");
 
-    if(offset != ByteVector::npos) {
+    if(offset != ByteVector::npos()) {
 
       // VBRI header found.
 
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
index c420ba83..85b86754 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
@@ -106,19 +106,19 @@ size_t findChar(
 {
   const size_t dataSize = dataEnd - dataBegin;
   if(offset + 1 > dataSize)
-    return ByteVector::npos;
+    return ByteVector::npos();
 
   // n % 0 is invalid
 
   if(byteAlign == 0)
-    return ByteVector::npos;
+    return ByteVector::npos();
 
   for(TIterator it = dataBegin + offset; it < dataEnd; it += byteAlign) {
     if(*it == c)
       return (it - dataBegin);
   }
 
-  return ByteVector::npos;
+  return ByteVector::npos();
 }
 
 template <class TIterator>
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ size_t findVector(
   const size_t dataSize    = dataEnd    - dataBegin;
   const size_t patternSize = patternEnd - patternBegin;
   if(patternSize == 0 || offset + patternSize > dataSize)
-    return ByteVector::npos;
+    return ByteVector::npos();
 
   // Special case that pattern contains just single char.
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ size_t findVector(
     }
   }
 
-  return ByteVector::npos;
+  return ByteVector::npos();
 }
 
 template <typename T, size_t LENGTH, ByteOrder ENDIAN>
@@ -327,11 +327,14 @@ public:
 // static members
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-const size_t ByteVector::npos = static_cast<size_t>(-1);
+size_t ByteVector::npos()
+{
+  return static_cast<size_t>(-1);
+}
 
 ByteVector ByteVector::fromCString(const char *s, size_t length)
 {
-  if(length == npos)
+  if(length == npos())
     return ByteVector(s);
   else
     return ByteVector(s, length);
@@ -489,8 +492,8 @@ size_t ByteVector::rfind(const ByteVector &pattern, size_t offset, size_t byteAl
   const size_t pos = findVector<ConstReverseIterator>(
     rbegin(), rend(), pattern.rbegin(), pattern.rend(), offset, byteAlign);
 
-  if(pos == npos)
-    return npos;
+  if(pos == npos())
+    return npos();
   else
     return size() - pos - pattern.size();
 }
@@ -532,7 +535,7 @@ ByteVector &ByteVector::replace(const ByteVector &pattern, const ByteVector &wit
   while (true)
   {
     offset = find(pattern, offset);
-    if(offset == npos)
+    if(offset == npos())
       break;
 
     detach();
@@ -565,7 +568,7 @@ ByteVector &ByteVector::replace(const ByteVector &pattern, const ByteVector &wit
 size_t ByteVector::endsWithPartialMatch(const ByteVector &pattern) const
 {
   if(pattern.size() > size())
-    return npos;
+    return npos();
 
   const size_t startIndex = size() - pattern.size();
 
@@ -577,7 +580,7 @@ size_t ByteVector::endsWithPartialMatch(const ByteVector &pattern) const
       return startIndex + i;
   }
 
-  return npos;
+  return npos();
 }
 
 ByteVector &ByteVector::append(const ByteVector &v)
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
index 0427b3fd..ba977743 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
      * for \a length bytes.  If \a length is not specified it will return the bytes
      * from \a index to the end of the vector.
      */
-    ByteVector mid(size_t index, size_t length = npos) const;
+    ByteVector mid(size_t index, size_t length = npos()) const;
 
     /*!
      * This essentially performs the same as operator[](), but instead of causing
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
 
     /*!
      * Searches the ByteVector for \a pattern starting at \a offset and returns
-     * the offset.  Returns \a npos if the pattern was not found.  If \a byteAlign is
+     * the offset.  Returns npos() if the pattern was not found.  If \a byteAlign is
      * specified the pattern will only be matched if it starts on a byte divisible
      * by \a byteAlign (starting from \a offset).
      */
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
 
     /*!
      * Searches the ByteVector for \a pattern starting from either the end of the
-     * vector or \a offset and returns the offset.  Returns \ npos if the pattern was
+     * vector or \a offset and returns the offset.  Returns npos() if the pattern was
      * not found.  If \a byteAlign is specified the pattern will only be matched
      * if it starts on a byte divisible by \a byteAlign (starting from \a offset).
      */
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
      * the \a patternLength argument.
      */
     bool containsAt(
-      const ByteVector &pattern, size_t offset, size_t patternOffset = 0, size_t patternLength = npos) const;
+      const ByteVector &pattern, size_t offset, size_t patternOffset = 0, size_t patternLength = npos()) const;
 
     /*!
      * Returns true if the vector starts with \a pattern.
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
 
     /*!
      * Checks for a partial match of \a pattern at the end of the vector.  It
-     * returns the offset of the partial match within the vector, or \a npos if the
+     * returns the offset of the partial match within the vector, or npos() if the
      * pattern is not found.  This method is particularly useful when searching for
      * patterns that start in one vector and end in another.  When combined with
      * startsWith() it can be used to find a pattern that overlaps two buffers.
@@ -267,7 +267,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
      * Returns true if the ByteVector is empty.
      *
      * \see size()
-     * \see isNull()
      */
     bool isEmpty() const;
 
@@ -482,7 +481,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
     /*!
      * Returns a ByteVector based on the CString \a s.
      */
-    static ByteVector fromCString(const char *s, size_t length = npos);
+    static ByteVector fromCString(const char *s, size_t length = npos());
 
     /*!
      * Returns a const reference to the byte at \a index.
@@ -556,11 +555,11 @@ namespace TagLib {
     void swap(ByteVector &v);
 
     /*!
-    * When used as the value for a \a length or \a patternLength parameter
-    * in ByteVector's member functions, means "until the end of the data".
-    * As a return value, it is usually used to indicate no matches.
-    */
-    static const size_t npos;
+     * Returns a special value used for \a length or \a patternLength parameters
+     * of ByteVector's member functions, means "until the end of the data".
+     * As a return value, it is usually used to indicate no matches.
+     */
+    static size_t npos();
 
     /*!
      * Returns a hex-encoded copy of the byte vector.
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevectorlist.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevectorlist.cpp
index 5aa47576..93de1edd 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevectorlist.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevectorlist.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ ByteVectorList ByteVectorList::split(
 
   size_t previousOffset = 0;
   for(size_t offset = v.find(pattern, 0, byteAlign);
-      offset != ByteVector::npos && (max == 0 || max > l.size() + 1);
+      offset != ByteVector::npos() && (max == 0 || max > l.size() + 1);
       offset = v.find(pattern, offset + pattern.size(), byteAlign))
   {
     if(offset - previousOffset >= 1)
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tfile.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tfile.cpp
index 858bbc2e..1096fb84 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tfile.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tfile.cpp
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ offset_t File::find(const ByteVector &pattern, offset_t fromOffset, const ByteVe
   // These variables are used to keep track of a partial match that happens at
   // the end of a buffer.
 
-  size_t previousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos;
-  size_t beforePreviousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos;
+  size_t previousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos();
+  size_t beforePreviousPartialMatch = ByteVector::npos();
 
   // Save the location of the current read pointer.  We will restore the
   // position using seek() before all returns.
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ offset_t File::find(const ByteVector &pattern, offset_t fromOffset, const ByteVe
 
     // (1) previous partial match
 
-    if(previousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos
+    if(previousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos()
       && bufferSize() > previousPartialMatch)
     {
       const size_t patternOffset = (bufferSize() - previousPartialMatch);
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ offset_t File::find(const ByteVector &pattern, offset_t fromOffset, const ByteVe
     }
 
     if(!before.isEmpty()
-      && beforePreviousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos
+      && beforePreviousPartialMatch != ByteVector::npos()
       && bufferSize() > beforePreviousPartialMatch)
     {
       const size_t beforeOffset = (bufferSize() - beforePreviousPartialMatch);
@@ -193,12 +193,12 @@ offset_t File::find(const ByteVector &pattern, offset_t fromOffset, const ByteVe
     // (2) pattern contained in current buffer
 
     size_t location = buffer.find(pattern);
-    if(location != ByteVector::npos) {
+    if(location != ByteVector::npos()) {
       seek(originalPosition);
       return bufferOffset + location;
     }
 
-    if(!before.isEmpty() && buffer.find(before) != ByteVector::npos) {
+    if(!before.isEmpty() && buffer.find(before) != ByteVector::npos()) {
       seek(originalPosition);
       return -1;
     }
@@ -263,12 +263,12 @@ offset_t File::rfind(const ByteVector &pattern, offset_t fromOffset, const ByteV
     // (2) pattern contained in current buffer
 
     const size_t location = buffer.rfind(pattern);
-    if(location != ByteVector::npos) {
+    if(location != ByteVector::npos()) {
       seek(originalPosition);
       return bufferOffset + location;
     }
 
-    if(!before.isEmpty() && buffer.find(before) != ByteVector::npos) {
+    if(!before.isEmpty() && buffer.find(before) != ByteVector::npos()) {
       seek(originalPosition);
       return -1;
     }
diff --git a/taglib/xm/xmfile.cpp b/taglib/xm/xmfile.cpp
index 7888f872..9cff50d5 100644
--- a/taglib/xm/xmfile.cpp
+++ b/taglib/xm/xmfile.cpp
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ namespace
       ByteVector data = file.readBlock(std::min(m_size, limit));
       size_t count = data.size();
       const size_t index = data.find((char) 0);
-      if(index != ByteVector::npos) {
+      if(index != ByteVector::npos()) {
         data.resize(index);
       }
       data.replace((char) 0xff, ' ');
diff --git a/tests/test_bytevector.cpp b/tests/test_bytevector.cpp
index 1140082a..6cdfca27 100644
--- a/tests/test_bytevector.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_bytevector.cpp
@@ -95,24 +95,24 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)4, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 2));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)4, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 3));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)4, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 4));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 5));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 6));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 7));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 8));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 5));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 6));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 7));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("....SggO."). find("SggO", 8));
 
     // Intentional out-of-bounds access.
     ByteVector v("0123456789x");
     v.resize(10);
     v.data()[10] = 'x';
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, v.find("789x", 7));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), v.find("789x", 7));
   }
 
   void testFind2()
   {
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)0, ByteVector("\x01", 1).find("\x01"));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)0, ByteVector("\x01\x02", 2).find("\x01\x02"));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("\x01", 1).find("\x02"));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, ByteVector("\x01\x02", 2).find("\x01\x03"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("\x01", 1).find("\x02"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), ByteVector("\x01\x02", 2).find("\x01\x03"));
   }
 
   void testRfind1()
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ public:
     ByteVector r3("OggS******OggS");
     ByteVector r4("OggS*OggS*OggS");
 
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, r0.find("OggS"));
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, r0.rfind("OggS"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), r0.find("OggS"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), r0.rfind("OggS"));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)0, r1.find("OggS"));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)0, r1.rfind("OggS"));
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL((size_t)10, r2.find("OggS"));
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL('B', b[9]);
     b.resize(3, 'C');
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(size_t(3), b.size());
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, b.find('C'));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), b.find('C'));
     b.resize(3);
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(size_t(3), b.size());
 
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL('B', c[9]);
     c.resize(3, 'C');
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(size_t(3), c.size());
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos, c.find('C'));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(ByteVector::npos(), c.find('C'));
   }
 
   void testAppend()