diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index f0a165c2..1ea78620 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -72,7 +72,11 @@
 namespace ledger {
   using namespace boost;
 
+#if defined(VERIFY_ON) || defined(HAVE_BOOST_PYTHON)
   class string;
+#else
+  typedef std::string string;
+#endif
 
   typedef std::list<string> strings_list;
 
@@ -255,10 +259,6 @@ inline bool operator!=(const char* __lhs, const string& __rhs)
 inline bool operator!=(const string& __lhs, const char* __rhs)
 { return __lhs.compare(__rhs) != 0; }
 
-#else // defined(VERIFY_ON) || defined(HAVE_BOOST_PYTHON)
-
-typedef std::string string;
-
 #endif // defined(VERIFY_ON) || defined(HAVE_BOOST_PYTHON)
 
 extern string empty_string;