diff --git a/include/osgIntrospection/CustomAttributeProvider b/include/osgIntrospection/CustomAttributeProvider
index 228482bea..f3c7825b4 100644
--- a/include/osgIntrospection/CustomAttributeProvider
+++ b/include/osgIntrospection/CustomAttributeProvider
@@ -115,7 +115,11 @@ namespace osgIntrospection
 
     protected:
         virtual void getInheritedProviders(CustomAttributeProviderList& providers) const = 0;
-        virtual ~CustomAttributeProvider() {}
+        virtual ~CustomAttributeProvider() {
+            for(CustomAttributeList::iterator it = attribs_.begin(); it != attribs_.end(); ++it) {
+                delete (*it);
+            }
+        }
 
     private:
         CustomAttributeList attribs_;
diff --git a/include/osgIntrospection/PropertyInfo b/include/osgIntrospection/PropertyInfo
index b12e3db10..f153195e6 100644
--- a/include/osgIntrospection/PropertyInfo
+++ b/include/osgIntrospection/PropertyInfo
@@ -354,6 +354,8 @@ namespace osgIntrospection
         /// this method, for example NoDefaultValueAttribute.
         Value getDefaultValue() const;
 
+        virtual ~PropertyInfo() {};
+        
     protected:            
         virtual void getInheritedProviders(CustomAttributeProviderList& providers) const;
 
diff --git a/include/osgIntrospection/Reflection b/include/osgIntrospection/Reflection
index 91a6bf8f7..4082b2fdf 100644
--- a/include/osgIntrospection/Reflection
+++ b/include/osgIntrospection/Reflection
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@ namespace osgIntrospection
         static const Converter* getConverter(const Type& source, const Type& dest);
         static bool getConversionPath(const Type& source, const Type& dest, ConverterList& conv);
         
+        // This function should be called (at least on windows platforms using Visual Studio 7.1 or 8 as compiler) to unregister 
+        // all the known types before exiting your program: otherwise, you will get a lot of false positive memory leaks in debug builds.
+        // It might also be used to dynamically reload the description of the known types (?)
+        static void uninitialize();
+        
     private:
         template<typename C> friend class Reflector;
         template<typename C> friend struct TypeNameAliasProxy;
diff --git a/include/osgIntrospection/Type b/include/osgIntrospection/Type
index 359e24c65..c9a73d893 100644
--- a/include/osgIntrospection/Type
+++ b/include/osgIntrospection/Type
@@ -253,6 +253,10 @@ namespace osgIntrospection
         Value createInstance(ValueList& args) const;
         inline Value createInstance() const;
 
+        // This function is called internally to reset all the elements contained in that type.
+        // used in the type loading process: it solves a false positive issue on VS 7.1 and 8 compilers in debug builds.
+        void reset();
+        
     protected:
         Type(const ExtendedTypeInfo &ti)
         :    _ti(ti), 
diff --git a/src/osgIntrospection/Reflection.cpp b/src/osgIntrospection/Reflection.cpp
index 72f752f7f..521fc0217 100644
--- a/src/osgIntrospection/Reflection.cpp
+++ b/src/osgIntrospection/Reflection.cpp
@@ -113,12 +113,10 @@ Type* Reflection::getOrRegisterType(const ExtendedTypeInfo &ti, bool replace_if_
             std::string old_namespace = i->second->getNamespace();
             std::vector<std::string> old_aliases = i->second->_aliases;
 
-            Type* newtype = new (i->second) Type(ti);
-            newtype->_name = old_name;
-            newtype->_namespace = old_namespace;
-            newtype->_aliases.swap(old_aliases);
-
-            return newtype;
+            i->second->reset();
+            i->second->_name = old_name;
+            i->second->_namespace = old_namespace;
+            i->second->_aliases.swap(old_aliases);
         }
         return i->second;
     }
@@ -128,7 +126,16 @@ Type* Reflection::getOrRegisterType(const ExtendedTypeInfo &ti, bool replace_if_
 
 void Reflection::registerConverter(const Type& source, const Type& dest, const Converter* cvt)
 {
+    const Converter* old = NULL;
+    StaticData::ConverterMap::iterator it = getOrCreateStaticData().convmap[&source].find(&dest);
+
+    if(it != getOrCreateStaticData().convmap[&source].end())
+        old = it->second;
+
     getOrCreateStaticData().convmap[&source][&dest] = cvt;
+    
+    if(old)
+        delete old;
 }
 
 const Converter* Reflection::getConverter(const Type& source, const Type& dest)
@@ -196,3 +203,9 @@ bool Reflection::accum_conv_path(const Type& source, const Type& dest, Converter
 
     return false;
 }
+
+void Reflection::uninitialize() {
+    if(_static_data)
+        delete _static_data;
+    _static_data = 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/osgIntrospection/Type.cpp b/src/osgIntrospection/Type.cpp
index 61c6402eb..a7ad7dd5b 100644
--- a/src/osgIntrospection/Type.cpp
+++ b/src/osgIntrospection/Type.cpp
@@ -51,19 +51,34 @@ namespace
 
 }
 
-Type::~Type() 
-{ 
+void Type::reset()
+{
     for (PropertyInfoList::const_iterator i=_props.begin(); i!=_props.end(); ++i)
         delete *i;
     for (MethodInfoList::const_iterator i=_methods.begin(); i!=_methods.end(); ++i)
         delete *i;
+    for (MethodInfoList::const_iterator i=_protected_methods.begin(); i!=_protected_methods.end(); ++i)
+        delete *i;
     for (ConstructorInfoList::const_iterator i=_cons.begin(); i!=_cons.end(); ++i)
         delete *i;
+    for (ConstructorInfoList::const_iterator i=_protected_cons.begin(); i!=_protected_cons.end(); ++i)
+        delete *i;
+
+    _props.clear();
+    _methods.clear();
+    _protected_methods.clear();
+    _cons.clear();
+    _protected_cons.clear();
 
     delete _rw;
     delete _cmp;
 }
 
+Type::~Type() 
+{ 
+    reset();
+}
+
 bool Type::isSubclassOf(const Type& type) const
 {
     check_defined();