diff --git a/vhdlpp/scope.cc b/vhdlpp/scope.cc
index a715e86f4..6c27d0ed9 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/scope.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/scope.cc
@@ -61,18 +61,10 @@ void ScopeBase::cleanup()
      * objects that were defined in this scope, leaving
      * objects from the other scopes untouched.
      */
-    for(map<perm_string, Signal*>::iterator it = new_signals_.begin()
-        ; it != new_signals_.end(); ++it)
-        delete it->second;
-    for(map<perm_string, ComponentBase*>::iterator it = new_components_.begin()
-        ; it != new_components_.end(); ++it)
-        delete it->second;
-    for(map<perm_string, const VType*>::iterator it = new_types_.begin()
-        ; it != new_types_.end(); ++it)
-        delete it->second;
-    for(map<perm_string, const_t*>::iterator it = new_constants_.begin()
-        ; it != new_constants_.end(); ++it)
-        delete it->second;
+    delete_all(new_signals_);
+    delete_all(new_components_);
+    delete_all(new_types_);
+    delete_all(new_constants_);
 }
 
 const VType*ScopeBase::find_type(perm_string by_name)
diff --git a/vhdlpp/scope.h b/vhdlpp/scope.h
index c17f7932b..69a8de4a7 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/scope.h
+++ b/vhdlpp/scope.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  *    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA
  */
 
+# include  <algorithm>
 # include  <list>
 # include  <map>
 # include  "StringHeap.h"
@@ -30,6 +31,16 @@ class Architecture;
 class ComponentBase;
 class VType;
 
+template<typename T>
+struct delete_object{
+    void operator()(T* item) { delete item; }
+};
+
+template<typename T>
+struct delete_pair_second{
+    void operator()(pair<perm_string, T*> item){ delete item.second; }
+};
+
 class ScopeBase {
 
     public:
@@ -42,6 +53,16 @@ class ScopeBase {
     protected:
       void cleanup();
 
+      //containers' cleaning helper functions
+      template<typename T> void delete_all(list<T*>& c)
+      {
+          for_each(c.begin(), c.end(), ::delete_object<T>());
+      }
+      template<typename T> void delete_all(map<perm_string, T*>& c)
+      {
+          for_each(c.begin(), c.end(), ::delete_pair_second<T>());
+      }
+
 	// Signal declarations...
       std::map<perm_string,Signal*> old_signals_; //previous scopes
       std::map<perm_string,Signal*> new_signals_; //current scope