diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8c692dc..f8a489c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -119,9 +119,8 @@
   example/example11.cpp
   example/example12.cpp
   example/example13.cpp
+  example/issues.cpp
 )
-set(PYBIND11_FIRSTEXAMPLE 1)
-list(LENGTH PYBIND11_EXAMPLES PYBIND11_LASTEXAMPLE)
 
 # Create the binding library
 add_library(example SHARED
@@ -208,8 +207,9 @@
   set(RUN_TEST ${RUN_TEST} --relaxed)
 endif()
 
-foreach(i RANGE ${PYBIND11_FIRSTEXAMPLE} ${PYBIND11_LASTEXAMPLE})
-  add_test(NAME example${i} COMMAND ${RUN_TEST} example${i})
+foreach(VALUE ${PYBIND11_EXAMPLES})
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "^example/(.+).cpp$" "\\1" EXAMPLE_NAME "${VALUE}")
+  add_test(NAME ${EXAMPLE_NAME} COMMAND ${RUN_TEST} ${EXAMPLE_NAME})
 endforeach()
 
 if (PYBIND11_INSTALL)
diff --git a/example/example.cpp b/example/example.cpp
index d130551..d84b456 100644
--- a/example/example.cpp
+++ b/example/example.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 void init_ex11(py::module &);
 void init_ex12(py::module &);
 void init_ex13(py::module &);
+void init_issues(py::module &);
 
 PYBIND11_PLUGIN(example) {
     py::module m("example", "pybind example plugin");
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
     init_ex11(m);
     init_ex12(m);
     init_ex13(m);
+    init_issues(m);
 
     return m.ptr();
 }
diff --git a/example/issues.cpp b/example/issues.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8cf831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example/issues.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+    example/issues.cpp -- collection of testcases for miscellaneous issues
+
+    Copyright (c) 2015 Wenzel Jakob <wenzel@inf.ethz.ch>
+
+    All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
+    BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+*/
+
+#include "example.h"
+
+
+void init_issues(py::module &m) {
+    py::module m2 = m.def_submodule("issues");
+
+    // #137: const char* isn't handled properly
+    m2.def("print_cchar", [](const char *string) { std::cout << string << std::endl; });
+}
diff --git a/example/issues.py b/example/issues.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64bd7c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example/issues.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+from __future__ import print_function
+import sys
+sys.path.append('.')
+
+from example.issues import print_cchar
+
+print_cchar("const char *")
diff --git a/example/issues.ref b/example/issues.ref
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f672ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example/issues.ref
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+const char *
diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index f22b670..89fcac1 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -401,8 +401,6 @@
     operator char() { if (value.length() > 0) return value[0]; else return '\0'; }
 
     static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return type_descr(_(PYBIND11_STRING_NAME)); }
-protected:
-    std::string value;
 };
 
 template <> class type_caster<wchar_t> : public type_caster<std::wstring> {
@@ -420,8 +418,6 @@
 	operator wchar_t() { if (value.length() > 0) return value[0]; else return L'\0'; }
 
 	static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return type_descr(_(PYBIND11_STRING_NAME)); }
-protected:
-	std::wstring value;
 };
 
 template <typename T1, typename T2> class type_caster<std::pair<T1, T2>> {