diff --git a/daemon/janus.c b/daemon/janus.c
index 3e29b8807..3184c2eb2 100644
--- a/daemon/janus.c
+++ b/daemon/janus.c
@@ -1087,7 +1087,7 @@ static const char *janus_videoroom(struct websocket_message *wm, struct janus_se
 	const char *req = json_reader_get_string_value(reader);
 	if (!req)
 		goto err;
-	str req_str = STR_INIT((char*) req);
+	str req_str = STR_INIT(req);
 	json_reader_end_member(reader);
 
 	switch (__csh_lookup(&req_str)) {
@@ -1789,7 +1789,7 @@ static const char *websocket_janus_process_json(struct websocket_message *wm,
 
 	ilog(LOG_DEBUG, "Processing '%s' type Janus message", janus_cmd);
 
-	str janus_cmd_str = STR_INIT((char*) janus_cmd);
+	str janus_cmd_str = STR_INIT(janus_cmd);
 
 	err = NULL;
 
diff --git a/daemon/rtcp.c b/daemon/rtcp.c
index a32dea131..cb7b277b7 100644
--- a/daemon/rtcp.c
+++ b/daemon/rtcp.c
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ static int rtcp_rr(struct rtcp_chain_element *el, struct rtcp_process_ctx *log_c
 static int rtcp_sdes(struct rtcp_chain_element *el, struct rtcp_process_ctx *log_ctx) {
 	CAH(sdes_list_start, el->sdes);
 
-	str comp_s = STR_INIT_LEN((void *) el->sdes->chunks, el->len - sizeof(el->sdes->header));
+	str comp_s = STR_INIT_LEN(el->sdes->chunks, el->len - sizeof(el->sdes->header));
 	int i = 0;
 	while (1) {
 		struct sdes_chunk *sdes_chunk = (struct sdes_chunk *) comp_s.s;
diff --git a/daemon/t38.c b/daemon/t38.c
index c934a6674..17b72bc47 100644
--- a/daemon/t38.c
+++ b/daemon/t38.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static int t38_gateway_handler(t38_core_state_t *stat, void *user_data, const ui
 	g_string_append_len(s, (void *) &seq, 2);
 
 	// add primary IFP packet
-	str buf = STR_INIT_LEN((char *) b, len);
+	str buf = STR_INIT_LEN(b, len);
 	__add_udptl(s, &buf);
 
 	// add error correction packets
diff --git a/lib/str.h b/lib/str.h
index 30d571f0d..6dbed2032 100644
--- a/lib/str.h
+++ b/lib/str.h
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ TYPED_GQUEUE(str, str)
 #define STR_NULL ((str) { NULL, 0 })
 #define STR_EMPTY ((str) { "", 0 })
 #define STR_CONST_INIT(s) ((str) { s, sizeof(s)-1 })
-#define STR_INIT(s) ((str) { s, (s) ? strlen(s) : 0 })
-#define STR_INIT_LEN(s, len) ((str) { s, len })
+#define STR_INIT(s) ((str) { (char *) (s), (s) ? strlen(s) : 0 })
+#define STR_INIT_LEN(s, len) ((str) { (char *) (s), len })
 #define STR_INIT_DUP(s) ((str) { g_strdup(s), strlen(s) })
 #define STR_CONST_INIT_BUF(buf) ((str) { (char *) &buf, sizeof(buf) })
 
diff --git a/recording-daemon/decoder.c b/recording-daemon/decoder.c
index a16bfce37..d7c8413d5 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/decoder.c
+++ b/recording-daemon/decoder.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ decode_t *decoder_new(const char *payload_str, const char *format, int ptime, ou
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	str name = STR_INIT_LEN((char *) payload_str, slash - payload_str);
+	str name = STR_INIT_LEN(payload_str, slash - payload_str);
 	int clockrate = atoi(slash + 1);
 	if (clockrate <= 0) {
 		ilog(LOG_ERR, "Invalid clock rate %i (parsed from '%.20s'/'%.20s')",
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ decode_t *decoder_new(const char *payload_str, const char *format, int ptime, ou
 	else
 		out_format.format = AV_SAMPLE_FMT_S16; // needed for TLS-only scenarios
 
-	str fmtp = STR_INIT((char*) format);
+	str fmtp = STR_INIT(format);
 
 	decoder_t *dec = decoder_new_fmtp(def, rtp_clockrate, channels, ptime, &out_format, NULL, &fmtp, NULL);
 	if (!dec)