diff --git a/src/actions.cpp b/src/actions.cpp
index a8ddda5..58f91ea 100644
--- a/src/actions.cpp
+++ b/src/actions.cpp
@@ -1338,9 +1338,8 @@ namespace quickbook
                 }
 
                 // Search in each of the include path locations.
-                BOOST_FOREACH(std::string const & p, include_path)
+                BOOST_FOREACH(fs::path full, include_path)
                 {
-                    fs::path full(p);
                     full /= path;
                     if (fs::exists(full))
                     {
diff --git a/src/actions_class.cpp b/src/actions_class.cpp
index 8695db1..692a0f5 100644
--- a/src/actions_class.cpp
+++ b/src/actions_class.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 namespace quickbook
 {
-    actions::actions(char const* filein_, fs::path const& outdir_, string_stream& out_)
+    actions::actions(fs::path const& filein_, fs::path const& outdir_, string_stream& out_)
         : grammar_()
 
     // header info
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ namespace quickbook
         , list_buffer()
 
     // state
-        , filename(fs::absolute(fs::path(filein_)))
+        , filename(fs::absolute(filein_))
         , outdir(outdir_)
         , macro_change_depth(0)
         , macro()
diff --git a/src/actions_class.hpp b/src/actions_class.hpp
index d764a97..57bd619 100644
--- a/src/actions_class.hpp
+++ b/src/actions_class.hpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ namespace quickbook
 
     struct actions
     {
-        actions(char const* filein_, fs::path const& outdir, string_stream& out_);
+        actions(fs::path const& filein_, fs::path const& outdir, string_stream& out_);
 
     private:
         boost::scoped_ptr<quickbook_grammar> grammar_;
diff --git a/src/doc_info_actions.cpp b/src/doc_info_actions.cpp
index 2a4c81e..4669f88 100644
--- a/src/doc_info_actions.cpp
+++ b/src/doc_info_actions.cpp
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ namespace quickbook
             qbk_major_version = 1;
             qbk_minor_version = 1;
             qbk_version_n = 101;
-            detail::outwarn(actions.filename.string(),1)
+            detail::outwarn(actions.filename,1)
                 << "Warning: Quickbook version undefined. "
                 "Version 1.1 is assumed" << std::endl;
         }
@@ -89,13 +89,13 @@ namespace quickbook
         
         if (qbk_version_n == 106)
         {
-            detail::outwarn(actions.filename.string(),1)
+            detail::outwarn(actions.filename,1)
                 << "Quickbook 1.6 is still under development and is "
                 "likely to change in the future." << std::endl;
         }
         else if(qbk_version_n < 100 || qbk_version_n > 106)
         {
-            detail::outerr(actions.filename.string(),1)
+            detail::outerr(actions.filename,1)
                 << "Unknown version of quickbook: quickbook "
                 << qbk_major_version
                 << "."
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ namespace quickbook
 
             if(!invalid_attributes.empty())
             {
-                detail::outwarn(actions.filename.string(),1)
+                detail::outwarn(actions.filename,1)
                     << (invalid_attributes.size() > 1 ?
                         "Invalid attributes" : "Invalid attribute")
                     << " for '" << actions.doc_type << " document info': "
diff --git a/src/input_path.hpp b/src/input_path.hpp
index 91badca..a0d1eb7 100644
--- a/src/input_path.hpp
+++ b/src/input_path.hpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #if !defined(BOOST_QUICKBOOK_DETAIL_INPUT_PATH_HPP)
 #define BOOST_QUICKBOOK_DETAIL_INPUT_PATH_HPP
 
+#include <boost/filesystem/v3/path.hpp>
 #include <vector>
 #include <boost/any.hpp>
 #include <string>
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
     public:
         explicit input_path(char const* c) : path_(c) {}
         explicit input_path(std::string const& c) : path_(c) {}
-        operator std::string() const { return path_; }
+        operator boost::filesystem::path() const { return boost::filesystem::path(path_); }
 
         friend void validate(boost::any&, const std::vector<std::string>&,
             input_path*, int);
diff --git a/src/quickbook.cpp b/src/quickbook.cpp
index 436e820..d5efda6 100644
--- a/src/quickbook.cpp
+++ b/src/quickbook.cpp
@@ -16,11 +16,10 @@
 #include <boost/program_options.hpp>
 #include <boost/filesystem/v3/path.hpp>
 #include <boost/filesystem/v3/operations.hpp>
+#include <boost/filesystem/v3/fstream.hpp>
 #include <boost/ref.hpp>
 
 #include <stdexcept>
-#include <fstream>
-#include <iostream>
 #include <vector>
 
 #if (defined(BOOST_MSVC) && (BOOST_MSVC <= 1310))
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ namespace quickbook
     tm* current_gm_time; // the current UTC time
     bool debug_mode; // for quickbook developers only
     bool ms_errors = false; // output errors/warnings as if for VS
-    std::vector<std::string> include_path;
+    std::vector<fs::path> include_path;
     std::vector<std::string> preset_defines;
 
     static void set_macros(actions& actor)
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ namespace quickbook
                 end = preset_defines.end();
                 it != end; ++it)
         {
-        	// TODO: Set filename in actor???
+            // TODO: Set filename in actor???
             iterator first(it->begin());
             iterator last(it->end());
 
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ namespace quickbook
     //
     ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
     int
-    parse_file(char const* filein_, actions& actor, bool ignore_docinfo)
+    parse_file(fs::path const& filein_, actions& actor, bool ignore_docinfo)
     {
         using std::cerr;
         using std::vector;
@@ -94,7 +93,7 @@ namespace quickbook
 
         if (!info.full)
         {
-        	file_position const& pos = info.stop.get_position();
+            file_position const& pos = info.stop.get_position();
             detail::outerr(actor.filename, pos.line)
                 << "Syntax Error near column " << pos.column << ".\n";
             ++actor.error_count;
@@ -104,7 +103,7 @@ namespace quickbook
     }
 
     static int
-    parse_document(char const* filein_, fs::path const& outdir, string_stream& out, bool ignore_docinfo = false)
+    parse_document(fs::path const& filein_, fs::path const& outdir, string_stream& out, bool ignore_docinfo = false)
     {
         actions actor(filein_, outdir, out);
 
@@ -126,14 +125,14 @@ namespace quickbook
 
     static int
     parse_document(
-        char const* filein_
-      , char const* fileout_
+        fs::path const& filein_
+      , fs::path const& fileout_
       , int indent
       , int linewidth
       , bool pretty_print)
     {
         int result = 0;
-        fs::path outdir = fs::path(fileout_).parent_path();
+        fs::path outdir = fileout_.parent_path();
         if (outdir.empty())
             outdir = ".";
         string_stream buffer;
@@ -141,7 +140,7 @@ namespace quickbook
 
         if (result == 0)
         {
-            std::ofstream fileout(fileout_);
+            fs::ofstream fileout(fileout_);
 
             if (pretty_print)
             {
@@ -258,7 +257,7 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
                 = vm["include-path"].as<
                     std::vector<quickbook::detail::input_path> >();
             quickbook::include_path
-                = std::vector<std::string>(paths.begin(), paths.end());
+                = std::vector<boost::filesystem::path>(paths.begin(), paths.end());
         }
 
         if (vm.count("define"))
@@ -269,9 +268,9 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
 
         if (vm.count("input-file"))
         {
-            std::string filein
-                = vm["input-file"].as<quickbook::detail::input_path>();
-            std::string fileout;
+            boost::filesystem::path filein(
+                vm["input-file"].as<quickbook::detail::input_path>());
+            boost::filesystem::path fileout;
 
             if (vm.count("output-file"))
             {
@@ -279,15 +278,15 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
             }
             else
             {
-                fileout = quickbook::detail::remove_extension(filein.c_str());
-                fileout += ".xml";
+                fileout = filein;
+                fileout.replace_extension("xml");
             }
 
             std::cout << "Generating Output File: "
-                << fileout
+                << fileout.string() // TODO
                 << std::endl;
 
-            return quickbook::parse_document(filein.c_str(), fileout.c_str(), indent, linewidth, pretty_print);
+            return quickbook::parse_document(filein, fileout, indent, linewidth, pretty_print);
         }
         else
         {
diff --git a/src/quickbook.hpp b/src/quickbook.hpp
index de480ef..a65a2f8 100644
--- a/src/quickbook.hpp
+++ b/src/quickbook.hpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include <time.h>
 #include <vector>
 #include <string>
+#include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
 #include "fwd.hpp"
 
 namespace quickbook
@@ -22,10 +23,10 @@ namespace quickbook
     extern tm* current_time; // the current time
     extern tm* current_gm_time; // the current UTC time
     extern bool debug_mode;
-    extern std::vector<std::string> include_path;
+    extern std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> include_path;
     extern std::vector<std::string> preset_defines;
 
-    int parse_file(char const* filein_, actions& actor, bool ignore_docinfo = false);
+    int parse_file(boost::filesystem::path const& filein_, actions& actor, bool ignore_docinfo = false);
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
index 9fd589a..ba8625e 100644
--- a/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 =============================================================================*/
 #include "utils.hpp"
 #include <boost/spirit/include/classic_core.hpp>
+#include <boost/filesystem/v3/fstream.hpp>
 
 #include <cctype>
 #include <cstring>
@@ -118,21 +119,6 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
         }
     }
 
-    // remove the extension from a filename
-    std::string
-    remove_extension(std::string const& filename)
-    {
-        std::string::size_type const n = filename.find_last_of('.');
-        if(std::string::npos == n)
-        {
-            return filename;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            return std::string(filename.begin(), filename.begin()+n);
-        }
-    }
-
     std::string escape_uri(std::string uri)
     {
         for (std::string::size_type n = 0; n < uri.size(); ++n)
@@ -243,7 +229,7 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
 
     template <class InputIterator, class OutputIterator>
     bool normalize(InputIterator begin, InputIterator end,
-            OutputIterator out, std::string const& filename)
+            OutputIterator out, boost::filesystem::path const& filename)
     {
         std::string encoding = read_bom(begin, end, out);
 
@@ -268,7 +254,7 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
         return true;
     }
 
-    int load(std::string const& filename, std::string& storage)
+    int load(boost::filesystem::path const& filename, std::string& storage)
     {
         using std::cerr;
         using std::endl;
@@ -276,7 +262,7 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
         using std::ifstream;
         using std::istream_iterator;
 
-        ifstream in(filename.c_str(), std::ios_base::in);
+        boost::filesystem::ifstream in(filename, std::ios_base::in);
 
         if (!in)
         {
diff --git a/src/utils.hpp b/src/utils.hpp
index 9a18cc4..6218a26 100644
--- a/src/utils.hpp
+++ b/src/utils.hpp
@@ -55,9 +55,6 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
     // un-indent a code segment
     void unindent(std::string& program);
 
-    // remove the extension from a filename
-    std::string remove_extension(std::string const& filename);
-
     std::string escape_uri(std::string uri);
 
     // Preformats an error/warning message so that it can be parsed by
@@ -70,7 +67,7 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail
 
     // load file into memory with extra trailing newlines to eliminate
     //  the need to check for end of file in the grammar.
-    int load(std::string const& filename, std::string& storage);
+    int load(boost::filesystem::path const& filename, std::string& storage);
 
     // given a file extension, return the type of the source file
     // we'll have an internal database for known file types.