diff --git a/src/Lexer.cpp b/src/Lexer.cpp
index ae4fe0373..ad5e42eca 100644
--- a/src/Lexer.cpp
+++ b/src/Lexer.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 static const std::string uuid_pattern = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx";
 static const unsigned int uuid_min_length = 8;
 
-std::string Lexer::dateFormat = "";
+std::string Lexer::dateFormat;
 std::string::size_type Lexer::minimumMatchLength = 3;
 std::map <std::string, std::string> Lexer::attributes;
 
diff --git a/src/Task.cpp b/src/Task.cpp
index 922eac4ec..81c4cd57a 100644
--- a/src/Task.cpp
+++ b/src/Task.cpp
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ extern Task& contextTask;
 static const float epsilon = 0.000001;
 #endif
 
-std::string Task::defaultProject   = "";
-std::string Task::defaultDue       = "";
-std::string Task::defaultScheduled = "";
+std::string Task::defaultProject;
+std::string Task::defaultDue;
+std::string Task::defaultScheduled;
 bool Task::searchCaseSensitive     = true;
 bool Task::regex                   = false;
 std::map <std::string, std::string> Task::attributes;
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ float Task::urgencyAgeMax                 = 0.0;
 
 std::map <std::string, std::vector <std::string>> Task::customOrder;
 
-static const std::string dummy ("");
+static const std::string dummy;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // The uuid and id attributes must be exempt from comparison.
@@ -2062,7 +2062,7 @@ void Task::modify (modType type, bool text_required /* = false */)
   // Need this for later comparison.
   auto originalStatus = getStatus ();
 
-  std::string text = "";
+  std::string text;
   bool mods = false;
   for (auto& a : Context::getContext ().cli2._args)
   {
diff --git a/src/Variant.cpp b/src/Variant.cpp
index 55d9885d5..495282dce 100644
--- a/src/Variant.cpp
+++ b/src/Variant.cpp
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
 #define STRING_VARIANT_MOD_ZERO      "Cannot modulo zero"
 #define STRING_VARIANT_SQRT_NEG      "Cannot take the square root of a negative number."
 
-std::string Variant::dateFormat = "";
+std::string Variant::dateFormat;
 bool Variant::searchCaseSensitive = true;
 bool Variant::searchUsingRegex = true;
 
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index 814f9aa61..01f83f043 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ int confirm4 (const std::string& question)
               << options[5]
               << ") ";
 
-    std::string answer {""};
+    std::string answer;
     std::getline (std::cin, answer);
     Context::getContext ().debug ("STDIN '" + answer + '\'');
     answer = std::cin.eof () ? STRING_UTIL_CONFIRM_QUIT : Lexer::lowerCase (Lexer::trim (answer));
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ const std::string indentProject (
   char delimiter /* = '.' */)
 {
   // Count the delimiters in *i.
-  std::string prefix = "";
+  std::string prefix;
   std::string::size_type pos = 0;
   std::string::size_type lastpos = 0;
   while ((pos = project.find (delimiter, pos + 1)) != std::string::npos)
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ const std::string indentProject (
     }
   }
 
-  std::string child = "";
+  std::string child;
   if (lastpos == 0)
     child = project;
   else