diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index a5ee2c5f..5beb21ac 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -225,9 +225,6 @@ using cast_op_type = typename std::conditional<std::is_pointer<typename std::rem
     typename std::add_pointer<typename intrinsic_type<T>::type>::type,
     typename std::add_lvalue_reference<typename intrinsic_type<T>::type>::type>::type;
 
-/// Thrown then trying to cast a null pointer into a reference argument
-class invalid_reference_cast : public std::exception { };
-
 /// Generic type caster for objects stored on the heap
 template <typename type> class type_caster_base : public type_caster_generic {
 public:
@@ -256,7 +253,7 @@ public:
     template <typename T> using cast_op_type = pybind11::detail::cast_op_type<T>;
 
     operator type*() { return (type *) value; }
-    operator type&() { if (!value) throw invalid_reference_cast(); return *((type *) value); }
+    operator type&() { if (!value) throw cast_error(); return *((type *) value); }
 
 protected:
     typedef void *(*Constructor)(const void *stream);
@@ -763,7 +760,7 @@ public:
 
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
-template <typename T> inline T cast(handle handle) {
+template <typename T> T cast(handle handle) {
     typedef detail::type_caster<typename detail::intrinsic_type<T>::type> type_caster;
     type_caster conv;
     if (!conv.load(handle, true))
@@ -771,7 +768,7 @@ template <typename T> inline T cast(handle handle) {
     return conv.operator typename type_caster::template cast_op_type<T>();
 }
 
-template <typename T> inline object cast(const T &value, return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference, handle parent = handle()) {
+template <typename T> object cast(const T &value, return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference, handle parent = handle()) {
     if (policy == return_value_policy::automatic)
         policy = std::is_pointer<T>::value ? return_value_policy::take_ownership : return_value_policy::copy;
     else if (policy == return_value_policy::automatic_reference)
@@ -779,11 +776,11 @@ template <typename T> inline object cast(const T &value, return_value_policy pol
     return object(detail::type_caster<typename detail::intrinsic_type<T>::type>::cast(value, policy, parent), false);
 }
 
-template <typename T> inline T handle::cast() const { return pybind11::cast<T>(*this); }
+template <typename T> T handle::cast() const { return pybind11::cast<T>(*this); }
 template <> inline void handle::cast() const { return; }
 
 template <return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
-          typename... Args> inline tuple make_tuple(Args&&... args_) {
+          typename... Args> tuple make_tuple(Args&&... args_) {
     const size_t size = sizeof...(Args);
     std::array<object, size> args {
         { object(detail::type_caster<typename detail::intrinsic_type<Args>::type>::cast(
@@ -799,7 +796,7 @@ template <return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
     return result;
 }
 
-template <typename... Args> inline object handle::call(Args&&... args) const {
+template <typename... Args> object handle::call(Args&&... args) const {
     tuple args_tuple = pybind11::make_tuple(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
     object result(PyObject_CallObject(m_ptr, args_tuple.ptr()), false);
     if (!result)
diff --git a/include/pybind11/common.h b/include/pybind11/common.h
index a82bb0eb..abf764af 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/common.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/common.h
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ template<size_t N, size_t ...S> struct make_index_sequence : make_index_sequence
 template<size_t ...S> struct make_index_sequence <0, S...> { typedef index_sequence<S...> type; };
 
 /// Strip the class from a method type
-template <typename T> struct remove_class {};
+template <typename T> struct remove_class { };
 template <typename C, typename R, typename... A> struct remove_class<R (C::*)(A...)> { typedef R type(A...); };
 template <typename C, typename R, typename... A> struct remove_class<R (C::*)(A...) const> { typedef R type(A...); };
 
@@ -305,12 +305,18 @@ to_string(T value) { return std::to_string((int) value); }
 
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
+#define PYBIND11_RUNTIME_EXCEPTION(name) \
+    class name : public std::runtime_error { public: \
+        name(const std::string &w) : std::runtime_error(w) { }; \
+        name(const char *s) : std::runtime_error(s) { }; \
+        name() : std::runtime_error("") { } \
+    };
+
 // C++ bindings of core Python exceptions
-struct stop_iteration    : public std::runtime_error { public: stop_iteration(const std::string &w="") : std::runtime_error(w)   {} };
-struct index_error       : public std::runtime_error { public: index_error(const std::string &w="")    : std::runtime_error(w)   {} };
-struct error_already_set : public std::runtime_error { public: error_already_set() : std::runtime_error(detail::error_string())  {} };
-/// Thrown when pybind11::cast or handle::call fail due to a type casting error
-struct cast_error        : public std::runtime_error { public: cast_error(const std::string &w = "") : std::runtime_error(w)     {} };
+class error_already_set : public std::runtime_error { public: error_already_set() : std::runtime_error(detail::error_string())  {} };
+PYBIND11_RUNTIME_EXCEPTION(stop_iteration)
+PYBIND11_RUNTIME_EXCEPTION(index_error)
+PYBIND11_RUNTIME_EXCEPTION(cast_error) /// Thrown when pybind11::cast or handle::call fail due to a type casting error
 
 [[noreturn]] PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline void pybind11_fail(const char *reason) { throw std::runtime_error(reason); }
 [[noreturn]] PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline void pybind11_fail(const std::string &reason) { throw std::runtime_error(reason); }
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index b0ae5580..c9b40b4b 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ protected:
                 try {
                     if (kwargs_consumed == nkwargs)
                         result = it->impl(it, args_, parent);
-                } catch (detail::invalid_reference_cast &) {
+                } catch (cast_error &) {
                     result = PYBIND11_TRY_NEXT_OVERLOAD;
                 }
 
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index 8e316304..82725ce4 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public:
         return result;
     }
 
-    template <typename T> inline T cast() const { return operator object().cast<T>(); }
+    template <typename T> T cast() const { return operator object().cast<T>(); }
 
     operator bool() const {
         if (attr) {