diff --git a/unsupported/Eigen/src/MatrixFunctions/MatrixFunction.h b/unsupported/Eigen/src/MatrixFunctions/MatrixFunction.h
index f619d8ae5..a35c11be5 100644
--- a/unsupported/Eigen/src/MatrixFunctions/MatrixFunction.h
+++ b/unsupported/Eigen/src/MatrixFunctions/MatrixFunction.h
@@ -426,7 +426,6 @@ struct matrix_function_compute<MatrixType, 1>
   static void run(const MatrixType& A, AtomicType& atomic, ResultType &result)
   {
     typedef internal::traits<MatrixType> Traits;
-    typedef typename MatrixType::Scalar Scalar;
     typedef typename MatrixType::Index Index;
     
     // compute Schur decomposition of A
diff --git a/unsupported/test/matrix_power.cpp b/unsupported/test/matrix_power.cpp
index 58644f84b..baf183d12 100644
--- a/unsupported/test/matrix_power.cpp
+++ b/unsupported/test/matrix_power.cpp
@@ -97,8 +97,12 @@ void testGeneral(const MatrixType& m, double tol)
 }
 
 template<typename MatrixType>
-void testSingular(const MatrixType& m, double tol)
+void testSingular(const MatrixType& m_const, double tol)
 {
+  // we need to pass by reference in order to prevent errors with
+  // MSVC for aligned data types ...
+  MatrixType& m = const_cast<MatrixType&>(m_const);
+
   const int IsComplex = NumTraits<typename internal::traits<MatrixType>::Scalar>::IsComplex;
   typedef typename internal::conditional<IsComplex, TriangularView<MatrixType,Upper>, const MatrixType&>::type TriangularType;
   typename internal::conditional< IsComplex, ComplexSchur<MatrixType>, RealSchur<MatrixType> >::type schur;
@@ -126,8 +130,12 @@ void testSingular(const MatrixType& m, double tol)
 }
 
 template<typename MatrixType>
-void testLogThenExp(const MatrixType& m, double tol)
+void testLogThenExp(const MatrixType& m_const, double tol)
 {
+  // we need to pass by reference in order to prevent errors with
+  // MSVC for aligned data types ...
+  MatrixType& m = const_cast<MatrixType&>(m_const);
+
   typedef typename MatrixType::Scalar Scalar;
   Scalar x;