diff --git a/include/boost/python/list.hpp b/include/boost/python/list.hpp
index e3dbf711..10fd40fd 100644
--- a/include/boost/python/list.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/python/list.hpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace detail
   {
       void append(object_cref); // append object to end
 
-      Py_ssize_t count(object_cref value) const; // return number of occurrences of value
+      ssize_t count(object_cref value) const; // return number of occurrences of value
 
       void extend(object_cref sequence); // extend list by appending sequence elements
     
diff --git a/src/list.cpp b/src/list.cpp
index de54335e..77e61688 100644
--- a/src/list.cpp
+++ b/src/list.cpp
@@ -144,11 +144,11 @@ void list_base::sort(object_cref cmpfunc)
 
 // For some reason, moving this to the end of the TU suppresses an ICE
 // with vc6.
-Py_ssize_t list_base::count(object_cref value) const
+ssize_t list_base::count(object_cref value) const
 {
     object result_obj(this->attr("count")(value));
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03000000
-    Py_ssize_t result = PyLong_AsSsize_t(result_obj.ptr());
+    ssize_t result = PyLong_AsSsize_t(result_obj.ptr());
 #else
     long result = PyInt_AsLong(result_obj.ptr());
 #endif
diff --git a/src/object/class.cpp b/src/object/class.cpp
index 3e29693b..febfdf58 100644
--- a/src/object/class.cpp
+++ b/src/object/class.cpp
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ namespace objects
           PyObject* d = type_->tp_dict;
           PyObject* instance_size_obj = PyObject_GetAttrString(d, const_cast<char*>("__instance_size__"));
 
-          Py_ssize_t instance_size = instance_size_obj ? 
+          ssize_t instance_size = instance_size_obj ? 
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03000000
               PyLong_AsSsize_t(instance_size_obj) : 0;
 #else