diff --git a/test/placement_new.cpp b/test/placement_new.cpp
index 96e19448..4179d771 100644
--- a/test/placement_new.cpp
+++ b/test/placement_new.cpp
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 #include <iostream>
 
 // User defined type to capture base pointer on construction
-class udt;
-udt* base_pointer;
 
 class udt {
 public:
@@ -23,8 +21,11 @@ public:
        base_pointer = this;
     }
     ~udt () {}      // required for GCC prior to 3.4 to generate cookie
+
+	static udt* base_pointer;
 };
 
+udt* udt::base_pointer;
 
 int main ()
 {
@@ -33,9 +34,9 @@ int main ()
 
     // Capture placement new offsets for a udt    
     new (ap) udt;
-    int new_offset = int (base_pointer - ap);
+    int new_offset = int (udt::base_pointer - ap);
     new (ap) udt [1];
-    int array_new_offset = int (base_pointer - ap);
+    int array_new_offset = int (udt::base_pointer - ap);
     
     // Print offsets - we expect 0,0 or 0,sizeof(std::size_t)
     std::cout << new_offset <<','<< array_new_offset << std::endl;
diff --git a/test/test1/test11.cpp b/test/test1/test11.cpp
index 36fb424c..3101abda 100644
--- a/test/test1/test11.cpp
+++ b/test/test1/test11.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ struct test_my_vector {
             std::cout << "v1.assign_temporary (v2) = " << v1 << std::endl;
             v1.swap (v2);
             std::cout << "v1.swap (v2) = " << v1 << " " << v2 << std::endl;
+            
+            // Zero assignment
+            v1 = ublas::zero_vector<> (v1.size ());
+            std::cout << "v1.zero_vector = " << v1 << std::endl;
+            v1 = v2;
 
 #ifndef BOOST_NO_FUNCTION_TEMPLATE_ORDERING
             // Project range and slice
diff --git a/test/test1/test13.cpp b/test/test1/test13.cpp
index a8265aa7..1aa50b5e 100644
--- a/test/test1/test13.cpp
+++ b/test/test1/test13.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size1 (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
 #ifndef BOOST_NO_FUNCTION_TEMPLATE_ORDERING
             // Project range and slice
             initialize_matrix (m1);
diff --git a/test/test3/test31.cpp b/test/test3/test31.cpp
index f759f606..68c2a723 100644
--- a/test/test3/test31.cpp
+++ b/test/test3/test31.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ struct test_my_vector {
             v1.swap (v2);
             std::cout << "v1.swap (v2) = " << v1 << " " << v2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            v1 = ublas::zero_vector<> (v1.size ());
+            std::cout << "v1.zero_vector = " << v1 << std::endl;
+            v1 = v2;
+
 #ifndef BOOST_NO_FUNCTION_TEMPLATE_ORDERING
             // Project range and slice
             initialize_vector (v1);
diff --git a/test/test3/test33.cpp b/test/test3/test33.cpp
index aca49591..0a86dc68 100644
--- a/test/test3/test33.cpp
+++ b/test/test3/test33.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size1 (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
 #ifndef BOOST_NO_FUNCTION_TEMPLATE_ORDERING
             // Project range and slice
             initialize_matrix (m1);
diff --git a/test/test4/test43.cpp b/test/test4/test43.cpp
index 3a868272..8e460d92 100644
--- a/test/test4/test43.cpp
+++ b/test/test4/test43.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size1 (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
             // Unary matrix operations resulting in a matrix
             initialize_matrix (m1);
             m2 = - m1;
diff --git a/test/test5/test53.cpp b/test/test5/test53.cpp
index b7574d60..7a8e48c7 100644
--- a/test/test5/test53.cpp
+++ b/test/test5/test53.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size1 (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
             // Unary matrix operations resulting in a matrix
             initialize_matrix (m1);
             m2 = - m1;
diff --git a/test/test6/test63.cpp b/test/test6/test63.cpp
index 77446d88..61f82ad3 100644
--- a/test/test6/test63.cpp
+++ b/test/test6/test63.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size1 (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
             // Unary matrix operations resulting in a matrix
             initialize_matrix (m1);
             m2 = - m1;
diff --git a/test/test7/test71.cpp b/test/test7/test71.cpp
index 0267d0e2..cd16a966 100644
--- a/test/test7/test71.cpp
+++ b/test/test7/test71.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct test_my_vector {
             v1.swap (v2);
             std::cout << "v1.swap (v2) = " << v1 << " " << v2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            v1 = ublas::zero_vector<> (v1.size ());
+            std::cout << "v1.zero_vector = " << v1 << std::endl;
+            v1 = v2;
+
             // Unary vector operations resulting in a vector
             initialize_vector (v1);
             v2 = - v1;
diff --git a/test/test7/test73.cpp b/test/test7/test73.cpp
index e4abde4a..75dfe55d 100644
--- a/test/test7/test73.cpp
+++ b/test/test7/test73.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ struct test_my_matrix {
             m1.swap (m2);
             std::cout << "m1.swap (m2) = " << m1 << " " << m2 << std::endl;
 
+            // Zero assignment
+            m1 = ublas::zero_matrix<> (m1.size (), m1.size2 ());
+            std::cout << "m1.zero_matrix = " << m1 << std::endl;
+            m1 = m2;
+
             // Unary matrix operations resulting in a matrix
             initialize_matrix (m1);
             m2 = - m1;