diff --git a/include/mapnik/plugin.hpp b/include/mapnik/plugin.hpp
index a3428de81..4694e121e 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/plugin.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/plugin.hpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ using mapnik_lib_t = struct _mapnik_lib_t;
 class PluginInfo : util::noncopyable
 {
 public:
-    using name_func = const char* (*) ();
+    using callable_returning_string = const char* (*) ();
     PluginInfo (std::string const& filename,
                 std::string const& library_name);
     ~PluginInfo();
diff --git a/src/plugin.cpp b/src/plugin.cpp
index 9037f5300..6e3c9fc2b 100644
--- a/src/plugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugin.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ PluginInfo::PluginInfo(std::string const& filename,
           if (module_) module_->dl = LoadLibraryA(filename.c_str());
           if (module_ && module_->dl)
           {
-                name_func name = reinterpret_cast<name_func>(dlsym(module_->dl, library_name.c_str()));
+                callable_returning_string name = reinterpret_cast<callable_returning_string>(dlsym(module_->dl, library_name.c_str()));
                 if (name) name_ = name();
           }
 #else
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ PluginInfo::PluginInfo(std::string const& filename,
           if (module_) module_->dl = dlopen(filename.c_str(),RTLD_LAZY);
           if (module_ && module_->dl)
           {
-                name_func name = reinterpret_cast<name_func>(dlsym(module_->dl, library_name.c_str()));
+                callable_returning_string name = reinterpret_cast<callable_returning_string>(dlsym(module_->dl, library_name.c_str()));
                 if (name) name_ = name();
           }
   #else