diff --git a/lib/check.cpp b/lib/check.cpp
index 80a59b4d7..b13a3ea94 100644
--- a/lib/check.cpp
+++ b/lib/check.cpp
@@ -42,3 +42,7 @@ void Check::reportError(const ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage &errmsg)
 {
     std::cout << errmsg.toXML(true, 1) << std::endl;
 }
+std::list<Check *> &Check::instances() {
+        static std::list<Check *> *_instances= new std::list<Check *>;
+        return *_instances;
+    }
diff --git a/lib/check.h b/lib/check.h
index af8f46a16..acba45f34 100644
--- a/lib/check.h
+++ b/lib/check.h
@@ -53,10 +53,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     /** List of registered check classes. This is used by Cppcheck to run checks and generate documentation */
-    static std::list<Check *> &instances() {
-        static std::list<Check *> _instances;
-        return _instances;
-    }
+    static std::list<Check *> &instances(); 
 
     /** run checks, the token list is not simplified */
     virtual void runChecks(const Tokenizer *, const Settings *, ErrorLogger *) {