diff --git a/include/libtorrent/variant_stream.hpp b/include/libtorrent/variant_stream.hpp
index 3551f5c9e..f89a9527d 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/variant_stream.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/variant_stream.hpp
@@ -542,9 +542,11 @@ public:
     }
 
     template <class S>
-    S& get()
+    S* get()
     {
-        return *boost::get<S*>(m_variant);
+        S** ret = boost::get<S*>(&m_variant);
+        if (!ret) return 0;
+        return *ret;
     }
 
     bool instantiated() const
diff --git a/src/http_connection.cpp b/src/http_connection.cpp
index 73904dae6..84b750fc9 100644
--- a/src/http_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/http_connection.cpp
@@ -163,15 +163,16 @@ void http_connection::start(std::string const& hostname, std::string const& port
 		if (m_ssl)
 		{
 			m_sock.instantiate<ssl_stream<socket_type> >(m_resolver.get_io_service());
-			ssl_stream<socket_type>& s = m_sock.get<ssl_stream<socket_type> >();
-			bool ret = instantiate_connection(m_resolver.get_io_service(), m_proxy, s.next_layer());
+			ssl_stream<socket_type>* s = m_sock.get<ssl_stream<socket_type> >();
+			TORRENT_ASSERT(s);
+			bool ret = instantiate_connection(m_resolver.get_io_service(), m_proxy, s->next_layer());
 			TORRENT_ASSERT(ret);
 		}
 		else
 		{
 			m_sock.instantiate<socket_type>(m_resolver.get_io_service());
 			bool ret = instantiate_connection(m_resolver.get_io_service()
-				, m_proxy, m_sock.get<socket_type>());
+				, m_proxy, *m_sock.get<socket_type>());
 			TORRENT_ASSERT(ret);
 		}
 #else
diff --git a/src/instantiate_connection.cpp b/src/instantiate_connection.cpp
index 776ab6a12..1c69ecd35 100644
--- a/src/instantiate_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/instantiate_connection.cpp
@@ -52,23 +52,23 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			|| ps.type == proxy_settings::http_pw)
 		{
 			s.instantiate<http_stream>(ios);
-			s.get<http_stream>().set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
+			s.get<http_stream>()->set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
 			if (ps.type == proxy_settings::http_pw)
-				s.get<http_stream>().set_username(ps.username, ps.password);
+				s.get<http_stream>()->set_username(ps.username, ps.password);
 		}
 		else if (ps.type == proxy_settings::socks5
 			|| ps.type == proxy_settings::socks5_pw)
 		{
 			s.instantiate<socks5_stream>(ios);
-			s.get<socks5_stream>().set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
+			s.get<socks5_stream>()->set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
 			if (ps.type == proxy_settings::socks5_pw)
-				s.get<socks5_stream>().set_username(ps.username, ps.password);
+				s.get<socks5_stream>()->set_username(ps.username, ps.password);
 		}
 		else if (ps.type == proxy_settings::socks4)
 		{
 			s.instantiate<socks4_stream>(ios);
-			s.get<socks4_stream>().set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
-			s.get<socks4_stream>().set_username(ps.username);
+			s.get<socks4_stream>()->set_proxy(ps.hostname, ps.port);
+			s.get<socks4_stream>()->set_username(ps.username);
 		}
 		else
 		{
diff --git a/src/session_impl.cpp b/src/session_impl.cpp
index e71dbe8d9..8f9d594b5 100644
--- a/src/session_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/session_impl.cpp
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ namespace aux {
 	{
 		shared_ptr<socket_type> c(new socket_type(m_io_service));
 		c->instantiate<stream_socket>(m_io_service);
-		listener->async_accept(c->get<stream_socket>()
+		listener->async_accept(*c->get<stream_socket>()
 			, bind(&session_impl::on_incoming_connection, this, c
 			, boost::weak_ptr<socket_acceptor>(listener), _1));
 	}
diff --git a/src/torrent.cpp b/src/torrent.cpp
index 81f27168c..3baf03078 100644
--- a/src/torrent.cpp
+++ b/src/torrent.cpp
@@ -2335,7 +2335,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		{
 			// the web seed connection will talk immediately to
 			// the proxy, without requiring CONNECT support
-			s->get<http_stream>().set_no_connect(true);
+			s->get<http_stream>()->set_no_connect(true);
 		}
 
 		boost::intrusive_ptr<peer_connection> c(new (std::nothrow) web_peer_connection(