diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
index c218c97ec..d9920366b 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
@@ -144,8 +144,7 @@ void cmGlobalVisualStudio10Generator
 ::EnableLanguage(std::vector<std::string>const &  lang,
                  cmMakefile *mf, bool optional)
 {
-  if(!strcmp(this->ArchitectureId, "Itanium") ||
-     !strcmp(this->ArchitectureId, "x64"))
+  if(this->ArchitectureId == "Itanium" || this->ArchitectureId == "x64")
     {
     if(this->IsExpressEdition() && !this->Find64BitTools(mf))
       {
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator.cxx
index 8ab97b5b8..be1bedc76 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator.cxx
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator::cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator(
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 const char* cmGlobalVisualStudio8Generator::GetPlatformName() const
 {
-  if (!strcmp(this->ArchitectureId, "X86"))
+  if (this->ArchitectureId == "X86")
     {
     return "Win32";
     }
-  return this->ArchitectureId;
+  return this->ArchitectureId.c_str();
 }
 
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
index 67d6f8075..808664d44 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
@@ -499,8 +499,8 @@ void cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator::ComputeVSTargetDepends(cmTarget& target)
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 void cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator::AddPlatformDefinitions(cmMakefile* mf)
 {
-  mf->AddDefinition("MSVC_C_ARCHITECTURE_ID", this->ArchitectureId);
-  mf->AddDefinition("MSVC_CXX_ARCHITECTURE_ID", this->ArchitectureId);
+  mf->AddDefinition("MSVC_C_ARCHITECTURE_ID", this->ArchitectureId.c_str());
+  mf->AddDefinition("MSVC_CXX_ARCHITECTURE_ID", this->ArchitectureId.c_str());
 
   if(this->AdditionalPlatformDefinition)
     {
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.h b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.h
index 65ba24fcd..f9715ab9f 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.h
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator.h
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ protected:
   std::string GetUtilityDepend(cmTarget* target);
   typedef std::map<cmTarget*, cmStdString> UtilityDependsMap;
   UtilityDependsMap UtilityDepends;
-  const char* ArchitectureId;
+  std::string ArchitectureId;
   const char* AdditionalPlatformDefinition;
 
 private: