diff --git a/cli/cli.vcxproj b/cli/cli.vcxproj
index 93e5c1019..b2f888cc6 100644
--- a/cli/cli.vcxproj
+++ b/cli/cli.vcxproj
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@
       <BufferSecurityCheck>true</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;TIXML_USE_STL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <SuppressStartupBanner>true</SuppressStartupBanner>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\lib;..\externals;..\externals\tinyxml;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <BufferSecurityCheck>false</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;TIXML_USE_STL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <SuppressStartupBanner>true</SuppressStartupBanner>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
index 23923dca4..db1a20f6b 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <MultiProcessorCompilation>true</MultiProcessorCompilation>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;TIXML_USE_STL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4251;4512</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4251;4512</DisableSpecificWarnings>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;TIXML_USE_STL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <DebugInformationFormat>
       </DebugInformationFormat>
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index b13147f1d..999f4d912 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ public:
     /** @brief --report-progress */
     bool reportProgress;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_RULES
     /** Rule */
     class CPPCHECKLIB Rule {
     public:
@@ -190,7 +189,6 @@ public:
      * @brief Extra rules
      */
     std::list<Rule> rules;
-#endif
 
     /** Is the 'configuration checking' wanted? */
     bool checkConfiguration;