diff --git a/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp b/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp
index f38b2c99867..30c45de47bc 100644
--- a/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp
+++ b/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ const GHOST_TUns8* GHOST_SystemPathsX11::getSystemDir() const
 
 const GHOST_TUns8* GHOST_SystemPathsX11::getUserDir() const
 {
-	char* env = getenv("HOME");
+	const char* env = getenv("HOME");
 	if(env) {
 		return (GHOST_TUns8*) env;
 	} else {
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_util.h b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_util.h
index b3d657b7323..b3220937e19 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_util.h
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_util.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ extern "C" {
 struct ListBase;
 struct direntry;
 
-char *BLI_getDefaultDocumentFolder(void);
+const char *BLI_getDefaultDocumentFolder(void);
 
 char *BLI_get_folder(int folder_id, const char *subfolder);
 char *BLI_get_folder_create(int folder_id, const char *subfolder);
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
index 2359a858d51..97712639a6c 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
@@ -812,12 +812,12 @@ void BLI_getlastdir(const char* dir, char *last, int maxlen)
 /* This is now only used to really get the user's default document folder */
 /* On Windows I chose the 'Users/<MyUserName>/Documents' since it's used
    as default location to save documents */
-char *BLI_getDefaultDocumentFolder(void) {
+const char *BLI_getDefaultDocumentFolder(void) {
 	#if !defined(WIN32)
 		return getenv("HOME");
 
 	#else /* Windows */
-		char * ret;
+		const char * ret;
 		static char documentfolder[MAXPATHLEN];
 		HRESULT hResult;
 
@@ -883,7 +883,7 @@ static int test_path(char *targetpath, const char *path_base, const char *path_s
 
 static int test_env_path(char *path, const char *envvar)
 {
-	char *env = envvar?getenv(envvar):NULL;
+	const char *env = envvar?getenv(envvar):NULL;
 	if (!env) return 0;
 	
 	if (BLI_is_dir(env)) {
@@ -1617,7 +1617,7 @@ static int add_win32_extension(char *name)
 #ifdef _WIN32
 		char filename[FILE_MAXDIR+FILE_MAXFILE];
 		char ext[FILE_MAXDIR+FILE_MAXFILE];
-		char *extensions = getenv("PATHEXT");
+		const char *extensions = getenv("PATHEXT");
 		if (extensions) {
 			char *temp;
 			do {
@@ -1652,7 +1652,7 @@ static int add_win32_extension(char *name)
 void BLI_where_am_i(char *fullname, const int maxlen, const char *name)
 {
 	char filename[FILE_MAXDIR+FILE_MAXFILE];
-	char *path = NULL, *temp;
+	const char *path = NULL, *temp;
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	const char *separator = ";";
@@ -1666,7 +1666,7 @@ void BLI_where_am_i(char *fullname, const int maxlen, const char *name)
 	path = br_find_exe( NULL );
 	if (path) {
 		BLI_strncpy(fullname, path, maxlen);
-		free(path);
+		free((void *)path);
 		return;
 	}
 #endif
@@ -1749,7 +1749,7 @@ void BLI_where_is_temp(char *fullname, const int maxlen, int usertemp)
 	
 #ifdef WIN32
 	if (fullname[0] == '\0') {
-		char *tmp = getenv("TEMP"); /* Windows */
+		const char *tmp = getenv("TEMP"); /* Windows */
 		if (tmp && BLI_is_dir(tmp)) {
 			BLI_strncpy(fullname, tmp, maxlen);
 		}
@@ -1757,14 +1757,14 @@ void BLI_where_is_temp(char *fullname, const int maxlen, int usertemp)
 #else
 	/* Other OS's - Try TMP and TMPDIR */
 	if (fullname[0] == '\0') {
-		char *tmp = getenv("TMP");
+		const char *tmp = getenv("TMP");
 		if (tmp && BLI_is_dir(tmp)) {
 			BLI_strncpy(fullname, tmp, maxlen);
 		}
 	}
 	
 	if (fullname[0] == '\0') {
-		char *tmp = getenv("TMPDIR");
+		const char *tmp = getenv("TMPDIR");
 		if (tmp && BLI_is_dir(tmp)) {
 			BLI_strncpy(fullname, tmp, maxlen);
 		}
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_file/fsmenu.c b/source/blender/editors/space_file/fsmenu.c
index 340c7f72e4a..78977e4e88f 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_file/fsmenu.c
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_file/fsmenu.c
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ void fsmenu_read_system(struct FSMenu* fsmenu)
 #if (MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED <= MAC_OS_X_VERSION_10_4)
 		OSErr err=noErr;
 		int i;
-		char *home;
+		const char *home;
 		
 		/* loop through all the OS X Volumes, and add them to the SYSTEM section */
 		for (i=1; err!=nsvErr; i++)
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ void fsmenu_read_system(struct FSMenu* fsmenu)
 #else
 	/* unix */
 	{
-		char *home= getenv("HOME");
+		const char *home= getenv("HOME");
 
 		if(home) {
 			BLI_snprintf(line, FILE_MAXDIR, "%s/", home);
diff --git a/source/blender/imbuf/intern/thumbs.c b/source/blender/imbuf/intern/thumbs.c
index 24c5a755aef..1585206bb6b 100644
--- a/source/blender/imbuf/intern/thumbs.c
+++ b/source/blender/imbuf/intern/thumbs.c
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ static int get_thumb_dir( char* dir , ThumbSize size)
 	/* yes, applications shouldn't store data there, but so does GIMP :)*/
 	SHGetSpecialFolderPath(0, dir, CSIDL_PROFILE, 0);
 #else
-	char* home = getenv("HOME");
+	const char* home = getenv("HOME");
 	if (!home) return 0;
 	BLI_strncpy(dir, home, FILE_MAX);
 #endif