diff --git a/src/hb-dsalgs.hh b/src/hb-dsalgs.hh
index e8bd95c27..59df860df 100644
--- a/src/hb-dsalgs.hh
+++ b/src/hb-dsalgs.hh
@@ -610,8 +610,10 @@ struct HbOpXor
 template <typename elt_t, unsigned int byte_size>
 struct hb_vector_size_t
 {
-  elt_t& operator [] (unsigned int i) { return u.v[i]; }
-  const elt_t& operator [] (unsigned int i) const { return u.v[i]; }
+  inline elt_t& operator [] (unsigned int i) { return u.v[i]; }
+  inline const elt_t& operator [] (unsigned int i) const { return u.v[i]; }
+
+  inline void clear (unsigned char v = 0) { memset (this, v, sizeof (*this)); }
 
   template <class Op>
   inline hb_vector_size_t process (const hb_vector_size_t &o) const
diff --git a/src/hb-set.hh b/src/hb-set.hh
index 2dfcc242a..947e8d9d1 100644
--- a/src/hb-set.hh
+++ b/src/hb-set.hh
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ struct hb_set_t
 
   struct page_t
   {
-    inline void init0 (void) { memset (reinterpret_cast<char*>(&v), 0, sizeof (v)); }
-    inline void init1 (void) { memset (reinterpret_cast<char*>(&v), 0xff, sizeof (v)); }
+    inline void init0 (void) { v.clear (); }
+    inline void init1 (void) { v.clear (0xFF); }
 
     inline unsigned int len (void) const
     { return ARRAY_LENGTH_CONST (v); }