diff --git a/lib/utils.h b/lib/utils.h
index 681886b26d77..22b511c90c83 100644
--- a/lib/utils.h
+++ b/lib/utils.h
@@ -361,6 +361,10 @@ namespace cppcheck
     }
 }
 
-#define empty_if_null(p) p ? p : ""
+template<typename T>
+static inline T* empty_if_null(T* p)
+{
+    return p ? p : "";
+}
 
 #endif