diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index 80a900d6c..a67c4b1d6 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -126,21 +126,29 @@ bool CmdLineParser::ParseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             _settings->inconclusive = true;
 
         // Enforce language (--language=, -x)
-        else if (strncmp(argv[i], "--language=", 11) == 0) {
-            _settings->enforcedLang = argv[i] + 11;
-            if (_settings->enforcedLang != "c" && _settings->enforcedLang != "c++" && _settings->enforcedLang != "java" && _settings->enforcedLang != "c#") { // Valid values
-                PrintMessage("cppcheck: Unknown language '" + _settings->enforcedLang + "' enforced.");
-                return false;
+        else if (strncmp(argv[i], "--language=", 11) == 0 || strcmp(argv[i], "-x") == 0) {
+            std::string str;
+            if (argv[i][2]) {
+                str = argv[i]+11;
+            } else {
+                i++;
+                if (i >= argc || argv[i][0] == '-') {
+                    PrintMessage("cppcheck: No language given to '-x' option.");
+                    return false;
+                }
+                str = argv[i];
             }
-        } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-x") == 0) {
-            i++;
-            if (i >= argc || argv[i][0] == '-') {
-                PrintMessage("cppcheck: No language given to '-x' option.");
-                return false;
-            }
-            _settings->enforcedLang = argv[i];
-            if (_settings->enforcedLang != "c" && _settings->enforcedLang != "c++" && _settings->enforcedLang != "java" && _settings->enforcedLang != "c#") { // Valid values
-                PrintMessage("cppcheck: Unknown language '" + _settings->enforcedLang + "' enforced.");
+
+            if (str == "c")
+                _settings->enforcedLang = Settings::C;
+            else if (str == "c++")
+                _settings->enforcedLang = Settings::CPP;
+            else if (str == "c#")
+                _settings->enforcedLang = Settings::CSharp;
+            else if (str == "java")
+                _settings->enforcedLang = Settings::Java;
+            else {
+                PrintMessage("cppcheck: Unknown language '" + str + "' enforced.");
                 return false;
             }
         }
diff --git a/lib/preprocessor.cpp b/lib/preprocessor.cpp
index dea204177..6faaca93d 100644
--- a/lib/preprocessor.cpp
+++ b/lib/preprocessor.cpp
@@ -1552,7 +1552,7 @@ std::string Preprocessor::getcode(const std::string &filedata, const std::string
 
     // Create a map for the cfg for faster access to defines
     std::map<std::string, std::string> cfgmap(getcfgmap(cfg));
-    if (((_settings && _settings->enforcedLang == "c++") || ((!_settings || _settings->enforcedLang.empty()) && Path::isCPP(filename))) && cfgmap.find("__cplusplus") == cfgmap.end())
+    if (((_settings && _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::CPP) || ((!_settings || _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::None) && Path::isCPP(filename))) && cfgmap.find("__cplusplus") == cfgmap.end())
         cfgmap["__cplusplus"] = "1";
 
     std::stack<std::string> filenames;
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index 34ffa3230..5f0ef279e 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Settings::Settings()
       _exitCode(0),
       _showtime(0),
       _maxConfigs(12),
+      enforcedLang(None),
       reportProgress(false),
       checkConfiguration(false)
 {
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index 2039bacc5..4ec6bd2b2 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -149,8 +149,12 @@ public:
      */
     std::string addEnabled(const std::string &str);
 
+    enum Language {
+        None, C, CPP, CSharp, Java
+    };
+
     /** @brief Name of the language that is enforced. Empty per default. */
-    std::string enforcedLang;
+    Language enforcedLang;
 
     /** @brief suppress message (--suppressions) */
     Suppressions nomsg;
diff --git a/lib/tokenize.cpp b/lib/tokenize.cpp
index b3f963287..1b4da66b6 100644
--- a/lib/tokenize.cpp
+++ b/lib/tokenize.cpp
@@ -9355,12 +9355,12 @@ const std::string& Tokenizer::getSourceFilePath() const
 
 bool Tokenizer::isJava() const
 {
-    return _settings->enforcedLang == "java" || (_settings->enforcedLang.empty() && Path::isJava(getSourceFilePath()));
+    return _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::Java || (_settings->enforcedLang == Settings::None && Path::isJava(getSourceFilePath()));
 }
 
 bool Tokenizer::isCSharp() const
 {
-    return _settings->enforcedLang == "c#" || (_settings->enforcedLang.empty() && Path::isCSharp(getSourceFilePath()));
+    return _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::CSharp || (_settings->enforcedLang == Settings::None && Path::isCSharp(getSourceFilePath()));
 }
 
 bool Tokenizer::isJavaOrCSharp() const
@@ -9370,12 +9370,12 @@ bool Tokenizer::isJavaOrCSharp() const
 
 bool Tokenizer::isC() const
 {
-    return _settings->enforcedLang == "c" || (_settings->enforcedLang.empty() && Path::isC(getSourceFilePath()));
+    return _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::C || (_settings->enforcedLang == Settings::None && Path::isC(getSourceFilePath()));
 }
 
 bool Tokenizer::isCPP() const
 {
-    return _settings->enforcedLang == "c++" || (_settings->enforcedLang.empty() && Path::isCPP(getSourceFilePath()));
+    return _settings->enforcedLang == Settings::CPP || (_settings->enforcedLang == Settings::None && Path::isCPP(getSourceFilePath()));
 }
 
 void Tokenizer::reportError(const Token* tok, const Severity::SeverityType severity, const std::string& id, const std::string& msg, bool inconclusive) const
diff --git a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
index 9b963b76a..471940428 100644
--- a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -375,14 +375,14 @@ private:
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(2, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::None, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "-x", "c++", "file.cpp"};
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(4, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("c++", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::CPP, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "-x"};
@@ -401,28 +401,28 @@ private:
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(3, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("c++", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::CPP, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--language=c", "file.cpp"};
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(3, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("c", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::C, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--language=c#", "file.cpp"};
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(3, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("c#", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::CSharp, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--language=java", "file.cpp"};
             Settings settings;
             CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
             ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(3, argv));
-            ASSERT_EQUALS("java", settings.enforcedLang);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(Settings::Java, settings.enforcedLang);
         }
         {
             const char *argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--language=unknwonLanguage", "file.cpp"};