diff --git a/src/hb-ot-map-private.hh b/src/hb-ot-map-private.hh
index 105909a1f..97b92cc9a 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-map-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-ot-map-private.hh
@@ -63,8 +63,12 @@ struct hb_ot_map_t
     unsigned short auto_zwj : 1;
     hb_mask_t mask;
 
-    static int cmp (const lookup_map_t *a, const lookup_map_t *b)
-    { return a->index < b->index ? -1 : a->index > b->index ? 1 : 0; }
+    static int cmp (const void *pa, const void *pb)
+    {
+      const lookup_map_t *a = (const lookup_map_t *) pa;
+      const lookup_map_t *b = (const lookup_map_t *) pb;
+      return a->index < b->index ? -1 : a->index > b->index ? 1 : 0;
+    }
   };
 
   typedef void (*pause_func_t) (const struct hb_ot_shape_plan_t *plan, hb_font_t *font, hb_buffer_t *buffer);
@@ -210,9 +214,13 @@ struct hb_ot_map_builder_t
     unsigned int default_value; /* for non-global features, what should the unset glyphs take */
     unsigned int stage[2]; /* GSUB/GPOS */
 
-    static int cmp (const feature_info_t *a, const feature_info_t *b)
-    { return (a->tag != b->tag) ?  (a->tag < b->tag ? -1 : 1) :
-	     (a->seq < b->seq ? -1 : a->seq > b->seq ? 1 : 0); }
+    static int cmp (const void *pa, const void *pb)
+    {
+      const feature_info_t *a = (const feature_info_t *) pa;
+      const feature_info_t *b = (const feature_info_t *) pb;
+      return (a->tag != b->tag) ?  (a->tag < b->tag ? -1 : 1) :
+	     (a->seq < b->seq ? -1 : a->seq > b->seq ? 1 : 0);
+    }
   };
 
   struct stage_info_t {
diff --git a/src/hb-ot-name-table.hh b/src/hb-ot-name-table.hh
index 870f12332..731a0dbbb 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-name-table.hh
+++ b/src/hb-ot-name-table.hh
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ struct name
     key.encodingID.set (encoding_id);
     key.languageID.set (language_id);
     key.nameID.set (name_id);
-    NameRecord *match = (NameRecord *) bsearch (&key, nameRecord, count, sizeof (nameRecord[0]), (hb_compare_func_t) NameRecord::cmp);
+    NameRecord *match = (NameRecord *) bsearch (&key, nameRecord, count, sizeof (nameRecord[0]), NameRecord::cmp);
 
     if (!match)
       return 0;
diff --git a/src/hb-ot-tag.cc b/src/hb-ot-tag.cc
index 64c6ce0a4..dbec68c74 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-tag.cc
+++ b/src/hb-ot-tag.cc
@@ -879,9 +879,11 @@ static const LangTagLong ot_languages_zh[] = {
 };
 
 static int
-lang_compare_first_component (const char *a,
-			      const char *b)
+lang_compare_first_component (const void *pa,
+			      const void *pb)
 {
+  const char *a = (const char *) pa;
+  const char *b = (const char *) pb;
   unsigned int da, db;
   const char *p;
 
@@ -972,7 +974,7 @@ hb_ot_tag_from_language (hb_language_t language)
     const LangTag *lang_tag;
     lang_tag = (LangTag *) bsearch (lang_str, ot_languages,
 				    ARRAY_LENGTH (ot_languages), sizeof (LangTag),
-				    (hb_compare_func_t) lang_compare_first_component);
+				    lang_compare_first_component);
     if (lang_tag)
       return lang_tag->tag;
   }
diff --git a/src/hb-ot-var-mvar-table.hh b/src/hb-ot-var-mvar-table.hh
index 3cb749847..96bc77f3a 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-var-mvar-table.hh
+++ b/src/hb-ot-var-mvar-table.hh
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ struct MVAR
     const VariationValueRecord *record;
     record = (VariationValueRecord *) bsearch (&tag, values,
 					       valueRecordCount, valueRecordSize,
-					       (hb_compare_func_t) tag_compare);
+					       tag_compare);
     if (!record)
       return 0.;
 
@@ -85,8 +85,12 @@ struct MVAR
   }
 
 protected:
-  static inline int tag_compare (const hb_tag_t *a, const Tag *b)
-  { return b->cmp (*a); }
+  static inline int tag_compare (const void *pa, const void *pb)
+  {
+    const hb_tag_t *a = (const hb_tag_t *) pa;
+    const Tag *b = (const Tag *) pb;
+    return b->cmp (*a);
+  }
 
   protected:
   FixedVersion<>version;	/* Version of the metrics variation table
diff --git a/src/hb-private.hh b/src/hb-private.hh
index ab6511dc8..f6dbbe21f 100644
--- a/src/hb-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-private.hh
@@ -372,11 +372,6 @@ _hb_unsigned_int_mul_overflows (unsigned int count, unsigned int size)
 }
 
 
-/* Type of bsearch() / qsort() compare function */
-typedef int (*hb_compare_func_t) (const void *, const void *);
-
-
-
 
 /* arrays and maps */
 
@@ -480,12 +475,12 @@ struct hb_prealloced_array_t
 
   inline void qsort (void)
   {
-    ::qsort (array, len, sizeof (Type), (hb_compare_func_t) Type::cmp);
+    ::qsort (array, len, sizeof (Type), Type::cmp);
   }
 
   inline void qsort (unsigned int start, unsigned int end)
   {
-    ::qsort (array + start, end - start, sizeof (Type), (hb_compare_func_t) Type::cmp);
+    ::qsort (array + start, end - start, sizeof (Type), Type::cmp);
   }
 
   template <typename T>