diff --git a/test/stl_iterator.cpp b/test/stl_iterator.cpp
index 8676ef73..409e0da8 100755
--- a/test/stl_iterator.cpp
+++ b/test/stl_iterator.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ typedef std::list<int> list_int;
 void assign(list_int& x, object const& y)
 {
     stl_input_iterator<int> begin(y), end;
-    x.assign(begin, end);
+    x.clear();
+    for( ; begin != end; ++begin)
+        x.push_back(*begin);
 }
 
 BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(stl_iterator_ext)