diff --git a/src/base/bitunion.hh b/src/base/bitunion.hh
index 92d747cd1a..c8bb659af4 100644
--- a/src/base/bitunion.hh
+++ b/src/base/bitunion.hh
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ namespace bitfield_backend
 
         BitUnionOperators(const BitUnionOperators &) = default;
 
-        BitUnionOperators() {}
+        BitUnionOperators() = default;
 
         //Conversion operators.
         operator const typename Base::__StorageType () const
diff --git a/src/base/bitunion.test.cc b/src/base/bitunion.test.cc
index 7300efe2ae..06c7a615e9 100644
--- a/src/base/bitunion.test.cc
+++ b/src/base/bitunion.test.cc
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ containingFunc(uint64_t init_val, uint64_t fieldVal)
 // Declare these as global so g++ doesn't ignore them. Initialize them in
 // various ways.
 EmptySixtyFour emptySixtyFour = 0;
-EmptyThirtyTwo emptyThirtyTwo;
-EmptySixteen emptySixteen;
+EmptyThirtyTwo emptyThirtyTwo{};
+[[maybe_unused]] EmptySixteen emptySixteen;
 EmptyEight emptyEight(0);
 
 class BitUnionData : public testing::Test