diff --git a/common/cogl-blend-string.c b/common/cogl-blend-string.c
index 05fed58b3..c13a24545 100644
--- a/common/cogl-blend-string.c
+++ b/common/cogl-blend-string.c
@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ typedef enum _ParserArgState
 
 
 #define DEFINE_COLOR_SOURCE(NAME, NAME_LEN) \
-  {.type = COGL_BLEND_STRING_COLOR_SOURCE_ ## NAME, \
-   .name = #NAME, \
-   .name_len = NAME_LEN}
+  {/*.type = */COGL_BLEND_STRING_COLOR_SOURCE_ ## NAME, \
+   /*.name = */#NAME, \
+   /*.name_len = */NAME_LEN}
 
 static CoglBlendStringColorSourceInfo blending_color_sources[] = {
   DEFINE_COLOR_SOURCE (SRC_COLOR, 9),
@@ -87,18 +87,18 @@ static CoglBlendStringColorSourceInfo tex_combine_color_sources[] = {
 };
 
 static CoglBlendStringColorSourceInfo tex_combine_texture_n_color_source = {
-  .type = COGL_BLEND_STRING_COLOR_SOURCE_TEXTURE_N,
-  .name = "TEXTURE_N",
-  .name_len = 0
+  /*.type = */COGL_BLEND_STRING_COLOR_SOURCE_TEXTURE_N,
+  /*.name = */"TEXTURE_N",
+  /*.name_len = */0
 };
 
 #undef DEFINE_COLOR_SOURCE
 
 #define DEFINE_FUNCTION(NAME, NAME_LEN, ARGC) \
-  { .type = COGL_BLEND_STRING_FUNCTION_ ## NAME, \
-    .name = #NAME, \
-    .name_len = NAME_LEN, \
-    .argc = ARGC }
+  { /*.type = */COGL_BLEND_STRING_FUNCTION_ ## NAME, \
+    /*.name = */#NAME, \
+    /*.name_len = */NAME_LEN, \
+    /*.argc = */ARGC }
 
 /* NB: These must be sorted so any name that's a subset of another
  * comes later than the longer name. */
diff --git a/common/cogl-primitives.c b/common/cogl-primitives.c
index b1a40dfc8..0133b36cf 100644
--- a/common/cogl-primitives.c
+++ b/common/cogl-primitives.c
@@ -1269,9 +1269,11 @@ void
 cogl_rectangles (const float *verts,
                  guint        n_rects)
 {
-  struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect rects[n_rects];
+  struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect *rects;
   int i;
 
+  rects = g_alloca (n_rects * sizeof (struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect));
+
   for (i = 0; i < n_rects; i++)
     {
       rects[i].x_1 = verts[i * 4];
@@ -1289,9 +1291,11 @@ void
 cogl_rectangles_with_texture_coords (const float *verts,
                                      guint        n_rects)
 {
-  struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect rects[n_rects];
+  struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect *rects;
   int i;
 
+  rects = g_alloca (n_rects * sizeof (struct _CoglMutiTexturedRect));
+
   for (i = 0; i < n_rects; i++)
     {
       rects[i].x_1 = verts[i * 8];
diff --git a/common/cogl.c b/common/cogl.c
index e1796fb5d..9c92cdab7 100644
--- a/common/cogl.c
+++ b/common/cogl.c
@@ -729,11 +729,13 @@ cogl_read_pixels (int x,
   GLint   viewport[4];
   GLint   viewport_height;
   int     rowstride = width * 4;
-  guint8  temprow[rowstride];
+  guint8  *temprow;
 
   g_return_if_fail (format == COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888);
   g_return_if_fail (source == COGL_READ_PIXELS_COLOR_BUFFER);
 
+  temprow = g_alloca (rowstride * sizeof (guint8));
+
   glGetIntegerv (GL_VIEWPORT, viewport);
   viewport_height = viewport[3];