diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.cpp
index 7aeea902..714033e8 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.cpp
@@ -70,8 +70,17 @@
   || (defined(__clang__) && defined(__BIG_ENDIAN__))
 # define TAGLIB_BIG_ENDIAN
 
-#endif
+#else
 
+namespace {
+  bool isLittleEndian()
+  {
+    TagLib::ushort x = 1;
+    return (*reinterpret_cast<TagLib::uchar*>(&x) == 1);
+  }
+}
+
+#endif
 
 namespace TagLib 
 {
@@ -172,21 +181,17 @@ namespace TagLib
 #endif
   }
 
-  bool isLittleEndianSystem() 
-  {
 #if defined(TAGLIB_LITTLE_ENDIAN)
 
-    return true;
+  const bool isLittleEndianSystem = true;
 
 #elif defined(TAGLIB_BIG_ENDIAN)
 
-    return false;
+  const bool isLittleEndianSystem = false;
 
 #else
 
-    ushort x = 1;
-    return (*reinterpret_cast<uchar>(&x) == 1);
+  const bool isLittleEndianSystem = isLittleEndianSystem();
 
 #endif
-  }
 }
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.h b/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.h
index 6121414c..012a3173 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.h
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbyteswap.h
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ namespace TagLib
   ulonglong byteSwap64(ulonglong x);
 
   /*!
-   * Detects the system byte order.
-   * Returns \a true if little endian, \a false if big endian.
+   * Indicates the system byte order.
+   * \a true if little endian, \a false if big endian.
    */
-  bool isLittleEndianSystem();
+  extern const bool isLittleEndianSystem;
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
index 510e6cf6..31e11d65 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.cpp
@@ -183,25 +183,25 @@ T byteSwap(T x)
 }
 
 template <>
-unsigned short byteSwap<unsigned short>(unsigned short x)
+ushort byteSwap<ushort>(ushort x)
 {
   return byteSwap16(x);
 }
 
 template <>
-unsigned int byteSwap<unsigned int>(unsigned int x)
+uint byteSwap<uint>(uint x)
 {
   return byteSwap32(x);
 }
 
 template <>
-unsigned long long byteSwap<unsigned long long>(unsigned long long x)
+ulonglong byteSwap<ulonglong>(ulonglong x)
 {
   return byteSwap64(x);
 }
 
 template <class T>
-T toNumber(const ByteVector &v, bool swapBytes)
+T toNumber(const ByteVector &v, bool mostSignificantByteFirst)
 {
   if(v.isEmpty()) {
     debug("toNumber<T>() -- data is empty, returning 0");
@@ -212,26 +212,26 @@ T toNumber(const ByteVector &v, bool swapBytes)
 
   if(v.size() >= size)
   {
-    if(swapBytes)
+    if(isLittleEndianSystem == mostSignificantByteFirst)
       return byteSwap<T>(*reinterpret_cast<const T*>(v.data()));
     else
       return *reinterpret_cast<const T*>(v.data());
   }
 
-  const uint last = v.size() > size ? size - 1 : v.size() - 1;
+  const uint last = std::min<uint>(v.size() - 1, size);
   T sum = 0;
   for(uint i = 0; i <= last; i++)
-    sum |= (T) uchar(v[i]) << ((swapBytes ? last - i : i) * 8);
+    sum |= (T) uchar(v[i]) << ((mostSignificantByteFirst ? last - i : i) * 8);
 
   return sum;
 }
 
 template <class T>
-ByteVector fromNumber(T value, bool swapBytes)
+ByteVector fromNumber(T value, bool mostSignificantByteFirst)
 {
   const size_t size = sizeof(T);
 
-  if(swapBytes)
+  if(isLittleEndianSystem == mostSignificantByteFirst)
     value = byteSwap<T>(value);
 
   return ByteVector(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&value), size);
@@ -353,17 +353,17 @@ ByteVector ByteVector::fromCString(const char *s, uint length)
 
 ByteVector ByteVector::fromUInt(uint value, bool mostSignificantByteFirst)
 {
-  return fromNumber<uint>(value, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return fromNumber<uint>(value, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 ByteVector ByteVector::fromShort(short value, bool mostSignificantByteFirst)
 {
-  return fromNumber<ushort>(value, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return fromNumber<ushort>(value, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 ByteVector ByteVector::fromLongLong(long long value, bool mostSignificantByteFirst)
 {
-  return fromNumber<unsigned long long>(value, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return fromNumber<unsigned long long>(value, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -684,22 +684,22 @@ TagLib::uint ByteVector::checksum() const
 
 TagLib::uint ByteVector::toUInt(bool mostSignificantByteFirst) const
 {
-  return toNumber<uint>(*this, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return toNumber<uint>(*this, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 short ByteVector::toShort(bool mostSignificantByteFirst) const
 {
-  return toNumber<unsigned short>(*this, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return toNumber<unsigned short>(*this, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 unsigned short ByteVector::toUShort(bool mostSignificantByteFirst) const
 {
-  return toNumber<unsigned short>(*this, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return toNumber<unsigned short>(*this, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 long long ByteVector::toLongLong(bool mostSignificantByteFirst) const
 {
-  return toNumber<unsigned long long>(*this, (isLittleEndian == mostSignificantByteFirst));
+  return toNumber<unsigned long long>(*this, mostSignificantByteFirst);
 }
 
 const char &ByteVector::operator[](int index) const
@@ -816,12 +816,6 @@ void ByteVector::detach()
     d = new ByteVectorPrivate(d->data->data, d->offset, d->length);
   }
 }
-
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-// private members
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-
-const bool ByteVector::isLittleEndian = isLittleEndianSystem();
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
index d43e3e78..ca810130 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tbytevector.h
@@ -445,11 +445,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
     void detach();
 
   private:
-     /*!
-     * Indicates the system endian. \a true if little endian, \a false if big endian.
-     */
-    static const bool isLittleEndian;
-
     class ByteVectorPrivate;
     ByteVectorPrivate *d;
   };
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
index d6e102c3..5fe6f45e 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
@@ -821,7 +821,7 @@ void String::copyFromUTF16(const char *s, size_t length, Type t)
   internalCopyFromUTF16<sizeof(wchar_t)>(s, length, t);
 }
 
-const String::Type String::WCharByteOrder = isLittleEndianSystem() ? String::UTF16LE : String::UTF16BE;
+const String::Type String::WCharByteOrder = isLittleEndianSystem ? String::UTF16LE : String::UTF16BE;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////