diff --git a/src/common/EventHandlerSDL2.cxx b/src/common/EventHandlerSDL2.cxx
index e4d148fb9..6963d29d5 100644
--- a/src/common/EventHandlerSDL2.cxx
+++ b/src/common/EventHandlerSDL2.cxx
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ EventHandlerSDL2::JoystickSDL2::JoystickSDL2(int idx)
     // it also appends " #x", where x seems to vary. Obviously this wreaks
     // havoc with the idea that a joystick will always have the same name.
     // So we truncate the number.
-    const char* sdlname = SDL_JoystickName(myStick);
+    const char* const sdlname = SDL_JoystickName(myStick);
     const string& desc = BSPF::startsWithIgnoreCase(sdlname, "XInput Controller")
                          ? "XInput Controller" : sdlname;
 
diff --git a/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx b/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
index 891d77945..a41cbdd29 100644
--- a/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
+++ b/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ FSNodeZIP::FSNodeZIP(const string& p)
   if (_zipFile[0] == '~')
   {
 #if defined(BSPF_UNIX) || defined(BSPF_MACOS)
-    const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");  // NOLINT (not thread safe)
+    const char* const home = std::getenv("HOME");  // NOLINT (not thread safe)
     if (home != nullptr)
       _zipFile.replace(0, 1, home);
 #elif defined(BSPF_WINDOWS)
@@ -270,8 +270,8 @@ AbstractFSNodePtr FSNodeZIP::getParent() const
   if(_virtualPath.empty())
     return _realNode ? _realNode->getParent() : nullptr;
 
-  const char* start = _path.c_str();
-  const char* end = lastPathComponent(_path);
+  const char* const start = _path.c_str();
+  const char* const end = lastPathComponent(_path);
 
   return make_unique<FSNodeZIP>(string(start, end - start - 1));
 }
diff --git a/src/common/SoundSDL2.cxx b/src/common/SoundSDL2.cxx
index 3bee69bcf..af1491763 100644
--- a/src/common/SoundSDL2.cxx
+++ b/src/common/SoundSDL2.cxx
@@ -120,7 +120,9 @@ bool SoundSDL2::openDevice()
 
   myDeviceId = BSPF::clamp(myAudioSettings.device(), 0U,
                            static_cast<uInt32>(myDevices.size() - 1));
-  const char* device = myDeviceId ? myDevices.at(myDeviceId).first.c_str() : nullptr;
+  const char* const device = myDeviceId
+    ? myDevices.at(myDeviceId).first.c_str()
+    : nullptr;
 
   myDevice = SDL_OpenAudioDevice(device, 0, &desired, &myHardwareSpec,
                                  SDL_AUDIO_ALLOW_FREQUENCY_CHANGE);
@@ -384,7 +386,9 @@ void SoundSDL2::callback(void* object, uInt8* stream, int len)
 bool SoundSDL2::playWav(const string& fileName, const uInt32 position,
                         const uInt32 length)
 {
-  const char* device = myDeviceId ? myDevices.at(myDeviceId).first.c_str() : nullptr;
+  const char* const device = myDeviceId
+    ? myDevices.at(myDeviceId).first.c_str()
+    : nullptr;
 
   return myWavHandler.play(fileName, device, position, length);
 }
diff --git a/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx b/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
index 67547ceda..4c7b60192 100644
--- a/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
+++ b/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ string CartDebug::loadListFile()
       buf >> addr >> addr_s;
       if(addr_s.length() == 0)
         continue;
-      const char* p = addr_s[0] == 'U' ? addr_s.c_str() + 1 : addr_s.c_str();
+      const char* const p = addr_s[0] == 'U' ? addr_s.c_str() + 1 : addr_s.c_str();
       addr = static_cast<int>(strtoul(p, nullptr, 16));
 
       // For now, completely ignore ROM addresses
@@ -1555,7 +1555,7 @@ void CartDebug::getCompletions(const char* in, StringList& completions) const
   // Now scan user-defined labels
   for(const auto& iter: myUserAddresses)
   {
-    const char* l = iter.first.c_str();
+    const char* const l = iter.first.c_str();
     if(BSPF::matchesCamelCase(l, in))
       completions.push_back(l);
   }
diff --git a/src/debugger/Debugger.cxx b/src/debugger/Debugger.cxx
index ad39ae5e3..dda3774e1 100644
--- a/src/debugger/Debugger.cxx
+++ b/src/debugger/Debugger.cxx
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ void Debugger::getCompletions(const char* in, StringList& list) const
   {
     for(const auto& iter : myFunctions)
     {
-      const char* l = iter.first.c_str();
+      const char* const l = iter.first.c_str();
       if(BSPF::matchesCamelCase(l, in))
         list.push_back(l);
     }
diff --git a/src/emucore/FSNode.hxx b/src/emucore/FSNode.hxx
index aff2986a6..66342eada 100644
--- a/src/emucore/FSNode.hxx
+++ b/src/emucore/FSNode.hxx
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ class AbstractFSNode
       if(str.empty())
         return "";
 
-      const char* start = str.c_str();
+      const char* const start = str.c_str();
       const char* cur = start + str.size() - 2;
 
       while (cur >= start && !(*cur == '/' || *cur == '\\'))
diff --git a/src/emucore/KidVid.cxx b/src/emucore/KidVid.cxx
index 085e01349..7170c031b 100644
--- a/src/emucore/KidVid.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/KidVid.cxx
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ void KidVid::update()
     if(myTape)
     {
       static constexpr uInt32 gameNumber[4] = { 3, 1, 2, 3 };
-      static constexpr const char* gameName[6] = {
+      static constexpr const char* const gameName[6] = {
         "Harmony Smurf", "Handy Smurf", "Greedy Smurf",
         "Big Number Hunt", "Great Letter Roundup", "Spooky Spelling Bee"
       };
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ bool KidVid::load(Serializer& in)
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 const char* KidVid::getFileName() const
 {
-  static constexpr const char* fileNames[6] = {
+  static constexpr const char* const fileNames[6] = {
     "KVS3.WAV", "KVS1.WAV", "KVS2.WAV",
     "KVB3.WAV", "KVB1.WAV", "KVB2.WAV"
   };
diff --git a/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx b/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
index ff182a041..095898426 100644
--- a/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ string OSystem::createConsole(const FSNode& rom, const string& md5sum,
       {
         // Make sure there always is an id
         constexpr int ID_LEN = 32;
-        const char* HEX_DIGITS = "0123456789ABCDEF";
+        const char* const HEX_DIGITS = "0123456789ABCDEF";
         char id_chr[ID_LEN] = { 0 };
         const Random rnd;
 
diff --git a/src/os/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx b/src/os/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
index 28de8144b..91409c2ae 100644
--- a/src/os/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
+++ b/src/os/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ void OSystemUNIX::getBaseDirectories(string& basedir, string& homedir,
                                      bool useappdir, const string& usedir)
 {
   // Use XDG_CONFIG_HOME if defined, otherwise use the default
-  const char* cfg_home = std::getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");  // NOLINT
+  const char* const cfg_home = std::getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");  // NOLINT
   const string& configDir = cfg_home != nullptr ? cfg_home : "~/.config";
   basedir = configDir + "/stella";
   homedir = "~/";
diff --git a/src/os/windows/FSNodeWINDOWS.cxx b/src/os/windows/FSNodeWINDOWS.cxx
index ef251da01..e9b0eb701 100644
--- a/src/os/windows/FSNodeWINDOWS.cxx
+++ b/src/os/windows/FSNodeWINDOWS.cxx
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ string FSNodeWINDOWS::getShortPath() const
   if (home != "" && BSPF::startsWithIgnoreCase(_path, home))
   {
     string path = "~";
-    const char* offset = _path.c_str() + home.length();
+    const char* const offset = _path.c_str() + home.length();
     if (*offset != FSNode::PATH_SEPARATOR)
       path += FSNode::PATH_SEPARATOR;
     path += offset;
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ AbstractFSNodePtr FSNodeWINDOWS::getParent() const
 
   if (_path.size() > 3)
   {
-    const char* start = _path.c_str();
-    const char* end = lastPathComponent(_path);
+    const char* const start = _path.c_str();
+    const char* const end = lastPathComponent(_path);
 
-    return make_shared<FSNodeWINDOWS>(string(start, static_cast<size_t>(end - start)));
+    return make_unique<FSNodeWINDOWS>(string(start, static_cast<size_t>(end - start)));
   }
   else
-    return make_shared<FSNodeWINDOWS>();
+    return make_unique<FSNodeWINDOWS>();
 }
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ bool FSNodeWINDOWS::getChildren(AbstractFSList& myList, ListMode mode) const
       entry._isFile = false;
       entry._isPseudoRoot = false;
       entry._path = current_drive;
-      myList.emplace_back(make_shared<FSNodeWINDOWS>(entry));
+      myList.emplace_back(make_unique<FSNodeWINDOWS>(entry));
     }
   }
   else
@@ -164,8 +164,8 @@ void FSNodeWINDOWS::addFile(AbstractFSList& list, ListMode mode,
 {
   const char* const asciiName = find_data.cFileName;
 
-  // Skip local directory (.) and parent (..)
-  if (!strncmp(asciiName, ".", 1) || !strncmp(asciiName, "..", 2))
+  // Skip files starting with '.' (we assume empty filesnames never occur)
+  if (asciiName[0] == '.')
     return;
 
   const bool isDirectory = static_cast<bool>(find_data.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY);
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ void FSNodeWINDOWS::addFile(AbstractFSList& list, ListMode mode,
   entry._isPseudoRoot = false;
   entry._size = find_data.nFileSizeHigh * (static_cast<size_t>(MAXDWORD) + 1) + find_data.nFileSizeLow;
 
-  list.emplace_back(make_shared<FSNodeWINDOWS>(entry));
+  list.emplace_back(make_unique<FSNodeWINDOWS>(entry));
 }
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -