diff --git a/ffi/src/lib.rs b/ffi/src/lib.rs
index 3b77ad33..1bd3f049 100644
--- a/ffi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ffi/src/lib.rs
@@ -913,9 +913,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn changelist_entry_at(tx_report: *mut TransactionChange,
 /// destroy function for releasing the memory for `repr(C)` structs.
 #[no_mangle]
 pub unsafe extern "C" fn destroy(obj: *mut c_void) {
-    if !obj.is_null() {
-        let _ = Box::from_raw(obj);
-    }
+    let _ = Box::from_raw(obj);
 }
 
 /// Creates a function with a given `$name` that releases the memroy for a type `$t`.
@@ -923,7 +921,7 @@ macro_rules! define_destructor (
     ($name:ident, $t:ty) => (
         #[no_mangle]
         pub unsafe extern "C" fn $name(obj: *mut $t) {
-            if !obj.is_null() { let _ = Box::from_raw(obj); }
+            let _ = Box::from_raw(obj);
         }
     )
 );
diff --git a/ffi/src/utils.rs b/ffi/src/utils.rs
index 1a4abbf5..3dffd4b4 100644
--- a/ffi/src/utils.rs
+++ b/ffi/src/utils.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub mod strings {
         CString::new(r_string.into()).unwrap().into_raw()
     }
 
-    pub fn kw_from_string(keyword_string: &'static str) -> NamespacedKeyword {
+    pub fn kw_from_string(keyword_string: &'static str) -> Keyword {
     // TODO: validate. The input might not be a keyword!
         let attr_name = keyword_string.trim_left_matches(":");
         let parts: Vec<&str> = attr_name.split("/").collect();