diff --git a/include/libtorrent/bdecode.hpp b/include/libtorrent/bdecode.hpp
index 27bc90a0e..322775d18 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/bdecode.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/bdecode.hpp
@@ -233,8 +233,9 @@ struct bdecode_token
 // There are 5 different types of nodes, see type_t.
 struct TORRENT_EXPORT bdecode_node
 {
-	friend int bdecode(char const* start, char const* end, bdecode_node& ret
-		, error_code& ec, int* error_pos, int depth_limit, int token_limit);
+	TORRENT_EXPORT friend int bdecode(char const* start, char const* end, bdecode_node& ret
+		, error_code& ec, int* error_pos, int depth_limit
+		, int token_limit);
 
 	// creates a default constructed node, it will have the type ``none_t``.
 	bdecode_node();
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/thread.hpp b/include/libtorrent/thread.hpp
index 6aff9004b..02f11178a 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/thread.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/thread.hpp
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	typedef boost::asio::detail::mutex mutex;
 	typedef boost::asio::detail::event event;
 
+	// internal
+	void sleep(int milliseconds);
+
 	struct TORRENT_EXTRA_EXPORT condition_variable
 	{
 		condition_variable();
diff --git a/src/string_util.cpp b/src/string_util.cpp
index 8e9a57ceb..834ae8473 100644
--- a/src/string_util.cpp
+++ b/src/string_util.cpp
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include "libtorrent/string_util.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/random.hpp"
 
-#include <stdlib.h> // for malloc/free
-#include <string.h> // for strcpy/strlen
+#include <cstdlib> // for malloc
+#include <cstring> // for memmov/strcpy/strlen
 
 namespace libtorrent
 {
@@ -138,9 +138,9 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	char* allocate_string_copy(char const* str)
 	{
 		if (str == 0) return 0;
-		char* tmp = (char*)malloc(strlen(str) + 1);
+		char* tmp = (char*)std::malloc(std::strlen(str) + 1);
 		if (tmp == 0) return 0;
-		strcpy(tmp, str);
+		std::strcpy(tmp, str);
 		return tmp;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/thread.cpp b/src/thread.cpp
index edce6b3b2..8d4e60859 100644
--- a/src/thread.cpp
+++ b/src/thread.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,17 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 namespace libtorrent
 {
 
+	void sleep(int milliseconds)
+	{
+#if defined TORRENT_WINDOWS || defined TORRENT_CYGWIN
+		Sleep(milliseconds);
+#elif defined TORRENT_BEOS
+		snooze_until(system_time() + boost::int64_t(milliseconds) * 1000, B_SYSTEM_TIMEBASE);
+#else
+		usleep(milliseconds * 1000);
+#endif
+	}
+
 #ifdef BOOST_HAS_PTHREADS
 
 	condition_variable::condition_variable()