diff --git a/docs/advanced.rst b/docs/advanced.rst
index cf588af..6a4a020 100644
--- a/docs/advanced.rst
+++ b/docs/advanced.rst
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@
     PYBIND11_PLUGIN(example) {
         py::module m("example", "pybind11 example plugin");
 
-        py::class_<Animal, std::unique_ptr<Animal>, PyAnimal /* <--- trampoline*/> animal(m, "Animal");
+        py::class_<Animal, PyAnimal /* <--- trampoline*/> animal(m, "Animal");
         animal
             .def(py::init<>())
             .def("go", &Animal::go);
@@ -325,9 +325,10 @@
     }
 
 Importantly, pybind11 is made aware of the trampoline trampoline helper class
-by specifying it as the *third* template argument to :class:`class_`. The
-second argument with the unique pointer is simply the default holder type used
-by pybind11. Following this, we are able to define a constructor as usual.
+by specifying it as an extra template argument to :class:`class_`.  (This can
+also be combined with other template arguments such as a custom holder type;
+the order of template types does not matter).  Following this, we are able to
+define a constructor as usual.
 
 Note, however, that the above is sufficient for allowing python classes to
 extend ``Animal``, but not ``Dog``: see ref:`virtual_and_inheritance` for the
@@ -453,9 +454,9 @@
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
-    py::class_<Animal, std::unique_ptr<Animal>, PyAnimal<>> animal(m, "Animal");
-    py::class_<Dog, std::unique_ptr<Dog>, PyDog<>> dog(m, "Dog");
-    py::class_<Husky, std::unique_ptr<Husky>, PyDog<Husky>> husky(m, "Husky");
+    py::class_<Animal, PyAnimal<>> animal(m, "Animal");
+    py::class_<Dog, PyDog<>> dog(m, "Dog");
+    py::class_<Husky, PyDog<Husky>> husky(m, "Husky");
     // ... add animal, dog, husky definitions
 
 Note that ``Husky`` did not require a dedicated trampoline template class at
@@ -525,7 +526,7 @@
     PYBIND11_PLUGIN(example) {
         py::module m("example", "pybind11 example plugin");
 
-        py::class_<Animal, std::unique_ptr<Animal>, PyAnimal> animal(m, "Animal");
+        py::class_<Animal, PyAnimal> animal(m, "Animal");
         animal
             .def(py::init<>())
             .def("go", &Animal::go);
@@ -939,11 +940,11 @@
 types with internal reference counting. For the simpler C++11 unique pointers,
 refer to the previous section.
 
-The binding generator for classes, :class:`class_`, takes an optional second
-template type, which denotes a special *holder* type that is used to manage
-references to the object. When wrapping a type named ``Type``, the default
-value of this template parameter is ``std::unique_ptr<Type>``, which means that
-the object is deallocated when Python's reference count goes to zero.
+The binding generator for classes, :class:`class_`, can be passed a template
+type that denotes a special *holder* type that is used to manage references to
+the object.  If no such holder type template argument is given, the default for
+a type named ``Type`` is ``std::unique_ptr<Type>``, which means that the object
+is deallocated when Python's reference count goes to zero.
 
 It is possible to switch to other types of reference counting wrappers or smart
 pointers, which is useful in codebases that rely on them. For instance, the
@@ -977,6 +978,8 @@
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
+    PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE(T, std::shared_ptr<T>);
+
     class Child { };
 
     class Parent {
@@ -1089,7 +1092,7 @@
 is responsible for managing the lifetime of instances will reference the
 destructor even if no deallocations ever take place. In order to expose classes
 with private or protected destructors, it is possible to override the holder
-type via the second argument to ``class_``. Pybind11 provides a helper class
+type via a holder type argument to ``class_``. Pybind11 provides a helper class
 ``py::nodelete`` that disables any destructor invocations. In this case, it is
 crucial that instances are deallocated on the C++ side to avoid memory leaks.
 
diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index c8c8f77..e5579e1 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -798,6 +798,13 @@
     holder_type holder;
 };
 
+template <typename base, typename holder> struct is_holder_type :
+    // PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE holder types:
+    std::conditional<std::is_base_of<detail::type_caster_holder<base, holder>, detail::type_caster<holder>>::value,
+    std::true_type,
+    std::false_type>::type {};
+template <typename base, typename deleter> struct is_holder_type<base, std::unique_ptr<base, deleter>> : std::true_type {};
+
 template <typename T> struct handle_type_name { static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return _<T>(); } };
 template <> struct handle_type_name<bytes> { static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return _(PYBIND11_BYTES_NAME); } };
 template <> struct handle_type_name<args> { static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return _("*args"); } };
diff --git a/include/pybind11/common.h b/include/pybind11/common.h
index 3d5aeb2..6aeeb3d 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/common.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/common.h
@@ -358,6 +358,28 @@
 struct any_of_t<P, T, Ts...> : conditional_t<P<T>::value, std::true_type, any_of_t<P, Ts...>> { };
 #endif
 
+// Extracts the first type from the template parameter pack matching the predicate, or void if none match.
+template <template<class> class Predicate, class... Ts> struct first_of;
+template <template<class> class Predicate> struct first_of<Predicate> {
+    using type = void;
+};
+template <template<class> class Predicate, class T, class... Ts>
+struct first_of<Predicate, T, Ts...> {
+    using type = typename std::conditional<
+        Predicate<T>::value,
+        T,
+        typename first_of<Predicate, Ts...>::type
+    >::type;
+};
+template <template<class> class Predicate, class... T> using first_of_t = typename first_of<Predicate, T...>::type;
+
+// Counts the number of types in the template parameter pack matching the predicate
+template <template<typename> class Predicate, typename... Ts> struct count_t;
+template <template<typename> class Predicate> struct count_t<Predicate> : std::integral_constant<size_t, 0> {};
+template <template<typename> class Predicate, class T, class... Ts>
+struct count_t<Predicate, T, Ts...> : std::integral_constant<size_t,
+    Predicate<T>::value + count_t<Predicate, Ts...>::value> {};
+
 /// Defer the evaluation of type T until types Us are instantiated
 template <typename T, typename... /*Us*/> struct deferred_type { using type = T; };
 template <typename T, typename... Us> using deferred_t = typename deferred_type<T, Us...>::type;
diff --git a/include/pybind11/operators.h b/include/pybind11/operators.h
index 39f9786..eda51a1 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/operators.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/operators.h
@@ -49,17 +49,19 @@
 
 /// Operator implementation generator
 template <op_id id, op_type ot, typename L, typename R> struct op_ {
-    template <typename Base, typename Holder, typename... Extra> void execute(pybind11::class_<Base, Holder> &class_, const Extra&... extra) const {
+    template <typename Class, typename... Extra> void execute(Class &cl, const Extra&... extra) const {
+        typedef typename Class::type Base;
         typedef typename std::conditional<std::is_same<L, self_t>::value, Base, L>::type L_type;
         typedef typename std::conditional<std::is_same<R, self_t>::value, Base, R>::type R_type;
         typedef op_impl<id, ot, Base, L_type, R_type> op;
-        class_.def(op::name(), &op::execute, extra...);
+        cl.def(op::name(), &op::execute, extra...);
     }
-    template <typename Base, typename Holder, typename... Extra> void execute_cast(pybind11::class_<Base, Holder> &class_, const Extra&... extra) const {
+    template <typename Class, typename... Extra> void execute_cast(Class &cl, const Extra&... extra) const {
+        typedef typename Class::type Base;
         typedef typename std::conditional<std::is_same<L, self_t>::value, Base, L>::type L_type;
         typedef typename std::conditional<std::is_same<R, self_t>::value, Base, R>::type R_type;
         typedef op_impl<id, ot, Base, L_type, R_type> op;
-        class_.def(op::name(), &op::execute_cast, extra...);
+        cl.def(op::name(), &op::execute_cast, extra...);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index 2104671..3f04ba5 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 /// Generic support for creating new Python heap types
 class generic_type : public object {
-    template <typename type, typename holder_type, typename type_alias> friend class class_;
+    template <typename...> friend class class_;
 public:
     PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(generic_type, object, PyType_Check)
 protected:
@@ -804,10 +804,31 @@
 };
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
-template <typename type, typename holder_type = std::unique_ptr<type>, typename type_alias = type>
+template <typename type_, typename... options>
 class class_ : public detail::generic_type {
+    template <typename T> using is_holder = detail::is_holder_type<type_, T>;
+    template <typename T> using is_subtype = detail::bool_constant<std::is_base_of<type_, T>::value && !std::is_same<T, type_>::value>;
+    template <typename T> using is_valid_class_option =
+        detail::bool_constant<
+            is_holder<T>::value ||
+            is_subtype<T>::value
+        >;
+
+    using extracted_holder_t = typename detail::first_of_t<is_holder, options...>;
+
 public:
-    typedef detail::instance<type, holder_type> instance_type;
+    using type = type_;
+    using type_alias = detail::first_of_t<is_subtype, options...>;
+    constexpr static bool has_alias = !std::is_void<type_alias>::value;
+    using holder_type = typename std::conditional<
+        std::is_void<extracted_holder_t>::value,
+        std::unique_ptr<type>,
+        extracted_holder_t
+    >::type;
+    using instance_type = detail::instance<type, holder_type>;
+
+    static_assert(detail::all_of_t<is_valid_class_option, options...>::value,
+            "Unknown/invalid class_ template parameters provided");
 
     PYBIND11_OBJECT(class_, detail::generic_type, PyType_Check)
 
@@ -827,7 +848,7 @@
 
         detail::generic_type::initialize(&record);
 
-        if (!std::is_same<type, type_alias>::value) {
+        if (has_alias) {
             auto &instances = pybind11::detail::get_internals().registered_types_cpp;
             instances[std::type_index(typeid(type_alias))] = instances[std::type_index(typeid(type))];
         }
@@ -852,25 +873,25 @@
 
     template <detail::op_id id, detail::op_type ot, typename L, typename R, typename... Extra>
     class_ &def(const detail::op_<id, ot, L, R> &op, const Extra&... extra) {
-        op.template execute<type>(*this, extra...);
+        op.execute(*this, extra...);
         return *this;
     }
 
     template <detail::op_id id, detail::op_type ot, typename L, typename R, typename... Extra>
     class_ & def_cast(const detail::op_<id, ot, L, R> &op, const Extra&... extra) {
-        op.template execute_cast<type>(*this, extra...);
+        op.execute_cast(*this, extra...);
         return *this;
     }
 
     template <typename... Args, typename... Extra>
     class_ &def(const detail::init<Args...> &init, const Extra&... extra) {
-        init.template execute<type>(*this, extra...);
+        init.execute(*this, extra...);
         return *this;
     }
 
     template <typename... Args, typename... Extra>
     class_ &def(const detail::init_alias<Args...> &init, const Extra&... extra) {
-        init.template execute<type>(*this, extra...);
+        init.execute(*this, extra...);
         return *this;
     }
 
@@ -1071,19 +1092,21 @@
 
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 template <typename... Args> struct init {
-    template <typename Base, typename Holder, typename Alias, typename... Extra,
-              typename std::enable_if<std::is_same<Base, Alias>::value, int>::type = 0>
-    void execute(pybind11::class_<Base, Holder, Alias> &class_, const Extra&... extra) const {
+    template <typename Class, typename... Extra, typename std::enable_if<!Class::has_alias, int>::type = 0>
+    void execute(Class &cl, const Extra&... extra) const {
+        using Base = typename Class::type;
         /// Function which calls a specific C++ in-place constructor
-        class_.def("__init__", [](Base *self_, Args... args) { new (self_) Base(args...); }, extra...);
+        cl.def("__init__", [](Base *self_, Args... args) { new (self_) Base(args...); }, extra...);
     }
 
-    template <typename Base, typename Holder, typename Alias, typename... Extra,
-              typename std::enable_if<!std::is_same<Base, Alias>::value &&
-                                       std::is_constructible<Base, Args...>::value, int>::type = 0>
-    void execute(pybind11::class_<Base, Holder, Alias> &class_, const Extra&... extra) const {
-        handle cl_type = class_;
-        class_.def("__init__", [cl_type](handle self_, Args... args) {
+    template <typename Class, typename... Extra,
+              typename std::enable_if<Class::has_alias &&
+                                       std::is_constructible<typename Class::type, Args...>::value, int>::type = 0>
+    void execute(Class &cl, const Extra&... extra) const {
+        using Base = typename Class::type;
+        using Alias = typename Class::type_alias;
+        handle cl_type = cl;
+        cl.def("__init__", [cl_type](handle self_, Args... args) {
                 if (self_.get_type() == cl_type)
                     new (self_.cast<Base *>()) Base(args...);
                 else
@@ -1091,11 +1114,12 @@
             }, extra...);
     }
 
-    template <typename Base, typename Holder, typename Alias, typename... Extra,
-              typename std::enable_if<!std::is_same<Base, Alias>::value &&
-                                      !std::is_constructible<Base, Args...>::value, int>::type = 0>
-    void execute(pybind11::class_<Base, Holder, Alias> &class_, const Extra&... extra) const {
-        class_.def("__init__", [](Alias *self_, Args... args) { new (self_) Alias(args...); }, extra...);
+    template <typename Class, typename... Extra,
+              typename std::enable_if<Class::has_alias &&
+                                      !std::is_constructible<typename Class::type, Args...>::value, int>::type = 0>
+    void execute(Class &cl, const Extra&... extra) const {
+        using Alias = typename Class::type_alias;
+        cl.def("__init__", [](Alias *self_, Args... args) { new (self_) Alias(args...); }, extra...);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 0efefaa..6d72ad7 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 set(PYBIND11_TEST_FILES
   test_buffers.cpp
   test_callbacks.cpp
+  test_class_args.cpp
   test_constants_and_functions.cpp
   test_eigen.cpp
   test_enum.cpp
diff --git a/tests/test_class_args.cpp b/tests/test_class_args.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c120701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_class_args.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+    tests/test_class_args.cpp -- tests that various way of defining a class work
+
+    Copyright (c) 2016 Wenzel Jakob <wenzel.jakob@epfl.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 "pybind11_tests.h"
+
+PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE(T, std::shared_ptr<T>);
+
+template <int N> class BreaksBase {};
+template <int N> class BreaksTramp : public BreaksBase<N> {};
+// These should all compile just fine:
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<1>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<1>>, BreaksTramp<1>> DoesntBreak1;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<2>, BreaksTramp<2>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<2>>> DoesntBreak2;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<3>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<3>>> DoesntBreak3;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<4>, BreaksTramp<4>> DoesntBreak4;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<5>> DoesntBreak5;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<6>, std::shared_ptr<BreaksBase<6>>, BreaksTramp<6>> DoesntBreak6;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<7>, BreaksTramp<7>, std::shared_ptr<BreaksBase<7>>> DoesntBreak7;
+typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<8>, std::shared_ptr<BreaksBase<8>>> DoesntBreak8;
+#define CHECK_BASE(N) static_assert(std::is_same<typename DoesntBreak##N::type, BreaksBase<N>>::value, \
+        "DoesntBreak" #N " has wrong type!")
+CHECK_BASE(1); CHECK_BASE(2); CHECK_BASE(3); CHECK_BASE(4); CHECK_BASE(5); CHECK_BASE(6); CHECK_BASE(7); CHECK_BASE(8);
+#define CHECK_ALIAS(N) static_assert(DoesntBreak##N::has_alias && std::is_same<typename DoesntBreak##N::type_alias, BreaksTramp<N>>::value, \
+        "DoesntBreak" #N " has wrong type_alias!")
+#define CHECK_NOALIAS(N) static_assert(!DoesntBreak##N::has_alias && std::is_void<typename DoesntBreak##N::type_alias>::value, \
+        "DoesntBreak" #N " has type alias, but shouldn't!")
+CHECK_ALIAS(1); CHECK_ALIAS(2); CHECK_NOALIAS(3); CHECK_ALIAS(4); CHECK_NOALIAS(5); CHECK_ALIAS(6); CHECK_ALIAS(7); CHECK_NOALIAS(8);
+#define CHECK_HOLDER(N, TYPE) static_assert(std::is_same<typename DoesntBreak##N::holder_type, std::TYPE##_ptr<BreaksBase<N>>>::value, \
+        "DoesntBreak" #N " has wrong holder_type!")
+CHECK_HOLDER(1, unique); CHECK_HOLDER(2, unique); CHECK_HOLDER(3, unique); CHECK_HOLDER(4, unique); CHECK_HOLDER(5, unique);
+CHECK_HOLDER(6, shared); CHECK_HOLDER(7, shared); CHECK_HOLDER(8, shared);
+
+// There's no nice way to test that these fail because they fail to compile; leave them here,
+// though, so that they can be manually tested by uncommenting them (and seeing that compilation
+// failures occurs).
+
+// We have to actually look into the type: the typedef alone isn't enough to instantiate the type:
+#define CHECK_BROKEN(N) static_assert(std::is_same<typename Breaks##N::type, BreaksBase<-N>>::value, \
+        "Breaks1 has wrong type!");
+
+//// Two holder classes:
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-1>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<-1>>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<-1>>> Breaks1;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(1);
+//// Two aliases:
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-2>, BreaksTramp<-2>, BreaksTramp<-2>> Breaks2;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(2);
+//// Holder + 2 aliases
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-3>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<-3>>, BreaksTramp<-3>, BreaksTramp<-3>> Breaks3;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(3);
+//// Alias + 2 holders
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-4>, std::unique_ptr<BreaksBase<-4>>, BreaksTramp<-4>, std::shared_ptr<BreaksBase<-4>>> Breaks4;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(4);
+//// Invalid option (not a subclass or holder)
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-5>, BreaksTramp<-4>> Breaks5;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(5);
+//// Invalid option: multiple inheritance not supported:
+//template <> struct BreaksBase<-8> : BreaksBase<-6>, BreaksBase<-7> {};
+//typedef py::class_<BreaksBase<-8>, BreaksBase<-6>, BreaksBase<-7>> Breaks8;
+//CHECK_BROKEN(8);
+
+test_initializer class_args([](py::module &m) {
+    // Just test that this compiled okay
+    m.def("class_args_noop", []() {});
+});
diff --git a/tests/test_class_args.py b/tests/test_class_args.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1fc21a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_class_args.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+
+import pytest
+
+def test_class_args():
+    # There's basically nothing to test here; just make sure the code compiled and declared its definition
+    from pybind11_tests import class_args_noop
+    class_args_noop()
diff --git a/tests/test_issues.cpp b/tests/test_issues.cpp
index 16a44c7..0a5a0b0 100644
--- a/tests/test_issues.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_issues.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
         }
     };
 
-    py::class_<Base, std::unique_ptr<Base>, DispatchIssue>(m2, "DispatchIssue")
+    py::class_<Base, DispatchIssue>(m2, "DispatchIssue")
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("dispatch", &Base::dispatch);
 
diff --git a/tests/test_virtual_functions.cpp b/tests/test_virtual_functions.cpp
index e591ba9..ac5b3fb 100644
--- a/tests/test_virtual_functions.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_virtual_functions.cpp
@@ -253,31 +253,31 @@
 
 void initialize_inherited_virtuals(py::module &m) {
     // Method 1: repeat
-    py::class_<A_Repeat, std::unique_ptr<A_Repeat>, PyA_Repeat>(m, "A_Repeat")
+    py::class_<A_Repeat, PyA_Repeat>(m, "A_Repeat")
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("unlucky_number", &A_Repeat::unlucky_number)
         .def("say_something", &A_Repeat::say_something)
         .def("say_everything", &A_Repeat::say_everything);
-    py::class_<B_Repeat, std::unique_ptr<B_Repeat>, PyB_Repeat>(m, "B_Repeat", py::base<A_Repeat>())
+    py::class_<B_Repeat, PyB_Repeat>(m, "B_Repeat", py::base<A_Repeat>())
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("lucky_number", &B_Repeat::lucky_number);
-    py::class_<C_Repeat, std::unique_ptr<C_Repeat>, PyC_Repeat>(m, "C_Repeat", py::base<B_Repeat>())
+    py::class_<C_Repeat, PyC_Repeat>(m, "C_Repeat", py::base<B_Repeat>())
         .def(py::init<>());
-    py::class_<D_Repeat, std::unique_ptr<D_Repeat>, PyD_Repeat>(m, "D_Repeat", py::base<C_Repeat>())
+    py::class_<D_Repeat, PyD_Repeat>(m, "D_Repeat", py::base<C_Repeat>())
         .def(py::init<>());
 
     // Method 2: Templated trampolines
-    py::class_<A_Tpl, std::unique_ptr<A_Tpl>, PyA_Tpl<>>(m, "A_Tpl")
+    py::class_<A_Tpl, PyA_Tpl<>>(m, "A_Tpl")
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("unlucky_number", &A_Tpl::unlucky_number)
         .def("say_something", &A_Tpl::say_something)
         .def("say_everything", &A_Tpl::say_everything);
-    py::class_<B_Tpl, std::unique_ptr<B_Tpl>, PyB_Tpl<>>(m, "B_Tpl", py::base<A_Tpl>())
+    py::class_<B_Tpl, PyB_Tpl<>>(m, "B_Tpl", py::base<A_Tpl>())
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("lucky_number", &B_Tpl::lucky_number);
-    py::class_<C_Tpl, std::unique_ptr<C_Tpl>, PyB_Tpl<C_Tpl>>(m, "C_Tpl", py::base<B_Tpl>())
+    py::class_<C_Tpl, PyB_Tpl<C_Tpl>>(m, "C_Tpl", py::base<B_Tpl>())
         .def(py::init<>());
-    py::class_<D_Tpl, std::unique_ptr<D_Tpl>, PyB_Tpl<D_Tpl>>(m, "D_Tpl", py::base<C_Tpl>())
+    py::class_<D_Tpl, PyB_Tpl<D_Tpl>>(m, "D_Tpl", py::base<C_Tpl>())
         .def(py::init<>());
 
 };
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@
     /* Important: indicate the trampoline class PyExampleVirt using the third
        argument to py::class_. The second argument with the unique pointer
        is simply the default holder type used by pybind11. */
-    py::class_<ExampleVirt, std::unique_ptr<ExampleVirt>, PyExampleVirt>(m, "ExampleVirt")
+    py::class_<ExampleVirt, PyExampleVirt>(m, "ExampleVirt")
         .def(py::init<int>())
         /* Reference original class in function definitions */
         .def("run", &ExampleVirt::run)
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@
         .def(py::init<int, int>());
 
 #if !defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
-    py::class_<NCVirt, std::unique_ptr<NCVirt>, NCVirtTrampoline>(m, "NCVirt")
+    py::class_<NCVirt, NCVirtTrampoline>(m, "NCVirt")
         .def(py::init<>())
         .def("get_noncopyable", &NCVirt::get_noncopyable)
         .def("get_movable", &NCVirt::get_movable)