diff --git a/src/hb-ot-layout-gsub-private.h b/src/hb-ot-layout-gsub-private.h
index 3fcd3442f..fb44ed06c 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-layout-gsub-private.h
+++ b/src/hb-ot-layout-gsub-private.h
@@ -551,10 +551,10 @@ struct ReverseChainSingleSubstFormat1 {
     if (HB_LIKELY (index == NOT_COVERED))
       return false;
 
-    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &lookahead = * (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> *)
-						 ((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
-    const ArrayOf<GlyphID> &substitute = * (const ArrayOf<GlyphID> *)
-					   ((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
+    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &lookahead = (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage>&)
+					       *((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
+    const ArrayOf<GlyphID> &substitute = (const ArrayOf<GlyphID>&)
+					 *((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
 
     if (match_backtrack (APPLY_ARG,
 			 backtrack.len, (USHORT *) backtrack.array,
diff --git a/src/hb-ot-layout-gsubgpos-private.h b/src/hb-ot-layout-gsubgpos-private.h
index fd0c55120..946101009 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-layout-gsubgpos-private.h
+++ b/src/hb-ot-layout-gsubgpos-private.h
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ static inline bool match_glyph (hb_codepoint_t glyph_id, const USHORT &value, ch
 }
 
 static inline bool match_class (hb_codepoint_t glyph_id, const USHORT &value, char *data) {
-  const ClassDef &class_def = * (const ClassDef *) data;
+  const ClassDef &class_def = (const ClassDef &)*data;
   return class_def.get_class (glyph_id) == value;
 }
 
 static inline bool match_coverage (hb_codepoint_t glyph_id, const USHORT &value, char *data) {
-  const OffsetTo<Coverage> &coverage = * (const OffsetTo<Coverage> *) &value;
+  const OffsetTo<Coverage> &coverage = (const OffsetTo<Coverage>&)value;
   return (data+coverage) (glyph_id) != NOT_COVERED;
 }
 
@@ -457,12 +457,12 @@ struct ChainRule {
 
   private:
   inline bool apply (APPLY_ARG_DEF, ChainContextLookupContext &context) const {
-    const HeadlessArrayOf<USHORT> &input = * (const HeadlessArrayOf<USHORT> *)
-					     ((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
-    const ArrayOf<USHORT> &lookahead = * (const ArrayOf<USHORT> *)
-					 ((const char *) &input + input.get_size ());
-    const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> &lookup = * (const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> *)
-					    ((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
+    const HeadlessArrayOf<USHORT> &input = (const HeadlessArrayOf<USHORT>&)
+					   *((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
+    const ArrayOf<USHORT> &lookahead = (const ArrayOf<USHORT>&)
+				       *((const char *) &input + input.get_size ());
+    const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> &lookup = (const ArrayOf<LookupRecord>&)
+					  *((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
     return chain_context_lookup (APPLY_ARG,
 				 backtrack.len, backtrack.array,
 				 input.len, input.array + 1,
@@ -602,17 +602,17 @@ struct ChainContextFormat3 {
 
   inline bool apply (APPLY_ARG_DEF, apply_lookup_func_t apply_func) const {
 
-    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &input = * (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> *)
-					     ((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
+    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &input = (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage>&)
+					   *((const char *) &backtrack + backtrack.get_size ());
 
     unsigned int index = (this+input[0]) (IN_CURGLYPH ());
     if (HB_LIKELY (index == NOT_COVERED))
       return false;
 
-    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &lookahead = * (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> *)
-						 ((const char *) &input + input.get_size ());
-    const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> &lookup = * (const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> *)
-					    ((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
+    const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage> &lookahead = (const OffsetArrayOf<Coverage>&)
+					       *((const char *) &input + input.get_size ());
+    const ArrayOf<LookupRecord> &lookup = (const ArrayOf<LookupRecord>&)
+					  *((const char *) &lookahead + lookahead.get_size ());
     struct ChainContextLookupContext context = {
       {match_coverage, apply_func},
       {(char *) this, (char *) this, (char *) this}
diff --git a/src/hb-ot-layout-open-private.h b/src/hb-ot-layout-open-private.h
index befb1d3a4..c4ab9a183 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-layout-open-private.h
+++ b/src/hb-ot-layout-open-private.h
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ struct OffsetTo : Offset {
   inline const Type& operator() (const void *base) const {
     unsigned int offset = *this;
     if (HB_UNLIKELY (!offset)) return Null(Type);
-    return * (const Type *) ((const char *) base + offset);
+    return (const Type&)*((const char *) base + offset);
   }
 };
 template <typename Base, typename Type>