diff --git a/include/ArduinoJson/Internals/JsonBufferAllocated.hpp b/include/ArduinoJson/Internals/JsonBufferAllocated.hpp
index 148a99ac..b06ce6cf 100644
--- a/include/ArduinoJson/Internals/JsonBufferAllocated.hpp
+++ b/include/ArduinoJson/Internals/JsonBufferAllocated.hpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ namespace Internals {
 class JsonBufferAllocated {
  public:
   void *operator new(size_t n, JsonBuffer *jsonBuffer) throw() {
+    if (!jsonBuffer) return NULL;
     return jsonBuffer->alloc(n);
   }
 
diff --git a/include/ArduinoJson/JsonVariantBase.hpp b/include/ArduinoJson/JsonVariantBase.hpp
index 6939702f..c85ad12d 100644
--- a/include/ArduinoJson/JsonVariantBase.hpp
+++ b/include/ArduinoJson/JsonVariantBase.hpp
@@ -79,9 +79,6 @@ class JsonVariantBase {
   FORCE_INLINE const JsonObjectSubscript operator[](const char *key) const;
   FORCE_INLINE const JsonObjectSubscript operator[](const String &key) const;
 
- protected:
-  JsonVariantBase() {}
-
  private:
   const TImpl *impl() const { return static_cast<const TImpl *>(this); }
 };
diff --git a/src/Internals/List.cpp b/src/Internals/List.cpp
index 96f8503a..5275f8fc 100644
--- a/src/Internals/List.cpp
+++ b/src/Internals/List.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ size_t List<T>::size() const {
 
 template <typename T>
 typename List<T>::node_type *List<T>::addNewNode() {
-  if (!_buffer) return NULL;
-
   node_type *newNode = new (_buffer) node_type();
 
   if (_firstNode) {