diff --git a/src/cairo-base64-stream.c b/src/cairo-base64-stream.c
index 95f706668..aa78bbb8a 100644
--- a/src/cairo-base64-stream.c
+++ b/src/cairo-base64-stream.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ typedef struct _cairo_base64_stream {
     unsigned char src[3];
 } cairo_base64_stream_t;
 
-static char const base64_table[64] =
+static char const cairo_nonstring base64_table[64] =
 "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/";
 
 static cairo_status_t
diff --git a/src/cairo-compiler-private.h b/src/cairo-compiler-private.h
index 90fd28019..4e8da4dbc 100644
--- a/src/cairo-compiler-private.h
+++ b/src/cairo-compiler-private.h
@@ -148,6 +148,12 @@
 #define unlikely(expr) (expr)
 #endif
 
+#if defined (__GNUC__)
+#define cairo_nonstring __attribute__((nonstring))
+#else
+#define cairo_nonstring
+#endif
+
 #if !defined(__GNUC__) && !defined (__clang__)
 #undef __attribute__
 #define __attribute__(x)
diff --git a/src/cairo-svg-surface.c b/src/cairo-svg-surface.c
index 249f46f53..f4f9df007 100644
--- a/src/cairo-svg-surface.c
+++ b/src/cairo-svg-surface.c
@@ -1885,7 +1885,7 @@ typedef struct {
     unsigned char src[3];
 } base64_write_closure_t;
 
-static char const base64_table[64] =
+static char const cairo_nonstring base64_table[64] =
 "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/";
 
 static cairo_status_t
diff --git a/src/cairo-type1-fallback.c b/src/cairo-type1-fallback.c
index d0bbc62f0..b22b8a7f4 100644
--- a/src/cairo-type1-fallback.c
+++ b/src/cairo-type1-fallback.c
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ cairo_type1_font_write_header (cairo_type1_font_t *font,
                                const char         *name)
 {
     unsigned int i;
-    const char spaces[50] = "                                                  ";
+    const char cairo_nonstring spaces[50] = "                                                  ";
 
     _cairo_output_stream_printf (font->output,
                                  "%%!FontType1-1.1 %s 1.0\n"
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ cairo_type1_write_stream_encrypted (void                *closure,
 {
     const unsigned char *in, *end;
     uint16_t c, p;
-    static const char hex_digits[16] = "0123456789abcdef";
+    static const char cairo_nonstring hex_digits[16] = "0123456789abcdef";
     char digits[3];
     cairo_type1_font_t *font = closure;
 
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ static void
 cairo_type1_font_write_trailer(cairo_type1_font_t *font)
 {
     int i;
-    static const char zeros[65] =
+    static const char cairo_nonstring zeros[65] =
 	"0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\n";
 
     for (i = 0; i < 8; i++)
diff --git a/src/cairo-type1-subset.c b/src/cairo-type1-subset.c
index 5c3766e3a..426332515 100644
--- a/src/cairo-type1-subset.c
+++ b/src/cairo-type1-subset.c
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ cairo_type1_font_subset_write_encrypted (cairo_type1_font_subset_t *font,
 {
     const unsigned char *in, *end;
     int c, p;
-    static const char hex_digits[16] = "0123456789abcdef";
+    static const char cairo_nonstring hex_digits[16] = "0123456789abcdef";
     char digits[3];
 
     in = (const unsigned char *) data;
@@ -1543,7 +1543,7 @@ cairo_type1_font_subset_write_trailer(cairo_type1_font_subset_t *font)
 {
     const char *cleartomark_token;
     int i;
-    static const char zeros[65] =
+    static const char cairo_nonstring zeros[65] =
 	"0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\n";