diff --git a/simgear/compatibility/sstream b/simgear/compatibility/sstream
index 00463b1f..2eb05195 100644
--- a/simgear/compatibility/sstream
+++ b/simgear/compatibility/sstream
@@ -8,20 +8,12 @@
 
 namespace std {
 
-   class ostringstream : public strstreambase, public iostream {
-   private:
-      std::ostrstream *sstr;
-
+   class ostringstream : public ostrstream {
    public:
-      ostringstream() { sstr = new std::ostrstream; }
-      ostringstream(const string &str, int mode=ios::out) {
-         sstr = new ostrstream((char *)str.c_str(), str.size(), mode);
-      }
-      ~ostringstream() { delete sstr; }
-      std::string str() { return std::string(sstr->str()); }
-      int pcount() { return sstr->pcount(); }
+      std::string str() { return string(ostrstream::str()) + '\0'; }
    };
 
+
    class istringstream : public istrstream {
    };