http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=57710
--- Comment #5 from Tobias Burnus <burnus at gcc dot gnu.org> --- (In reply to janus from comment #2) > Can't we do a 'static' initialization (of _vptr *and* _data) in both cases? Well, you need to free and finalize the variable - hence, it cannot be static.