diff --git a/ext2sim/ext2sim.c b/ext2sim/ext2sim.c
index 1008cfab..3252bbbb 100644
--- a/ext2sim/ext2sim.c
+++ b/ext2sim/ext2sim.c
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ CmdExtToSim(w, cmd)
     int option = EXTTOSIM_RUN;
     int argc = cmd->tx_argc;
     char **argv = cmd->tx_argv;
-    char **msg;
+    const char * const *msg;
     bool err_result;
 
     short s_rclass, d_rclass, sub_rclass;
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ CmdExtToSim(w, cmd)
     static EFCapValue LocCapThreshold = 2;
     static int LocResistThreshold = 10;
 
-    static char *cmdExtToSimOption[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdExtToSimOption[] = {
 	"[run] [options]	run exttosim on current cell\n"
 	"			use \"run -help\" to get standard options",
 	"alias on|off		enable/disable alias (.al) file",
@@ -291,14 +291,14 @@ CmdExtToSim(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *sim_formats[] = {
+    static const char * const sim_formats[] = {
 	"MIT",
 	"LBL",
 	"SU",
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *yesno[] = {
+    static const char * const yesno[] = {
 	"yes",
 	"true",
 	"on",
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ CmdExtToSim(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *cmdMergeTypes[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdMergeTypes[] = {
 	"none			don't merge parallel devices",
 	"conservative		merge devices with same L, W",
 	"aggressive		merge devices with same L"
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ CmdExtToSim(w, cmd)
 	    if (cmd->tx_argc == 2)
 	    {
 #ifdef MAGIC_WRAPPER
-		Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, sim_formats[esFormat], TCL_STATIC);
+		Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, (char*)sim_formats[esFormat], TCL_STATIC);
 #else
 		TxPrintf("Format: %s\n", sim_formats[esFormat]);
 #endif
diff --git a/ext2spice/ext2spice.c b/ext2spice/ext2spice.c
index e4943e89..7bd1693c 100644
--- a/ext2spice/ext2spice.c
+++ b/ext2spice/ext2spice.c
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
     int option = EXTTOSPC_RUN;
     int argc = cmd->tx_argc;
     char **argv = cmd->tx_argv;
-    char **msg;
+    const char * const *msg;
     char *resstr = NULL;
     char *substr = NULL;
     bool err_result, locDoSubckt;
@@ -284,11 +284,11 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
     static EFCapValue LocCapThreshold = 2;
     static int LocResistThreshold = INFINITE_THRESHOLD;
 
-    static char *spiceFormats[] = {
+    static const char * const spiceFormats[] = {
 	"SPICE2", "SPICE3", "HSPICE", "NGSPICE", NULL
     };
 
-    static char *cmdExtToSpcOption[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdExtToSpcOption[] = {
 	"[run] [options]	run exttospice on current cell\n"
 	"			use \"run -help\" to get standard options",
 	"default		reset to default values",
@@ -313,20 +313,20 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *cmdMergeTypes[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdMergeTypes[] = {
 	"none			don't merge parallel devices",
 	"conservative		merge devices with same L, W",
 	"aggressive		merge devices with same L",
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *cmdShortTypes[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdShortTypes[] = {
 	"none			merge shorted ports",
 	"resistor		separate shorted ports with 0 ohm resistor",
 	"voltage		separate shorted ports with 0 volt source",
 	NULL
     };
-    static char *cmdExtToSpcFormat[] = {
+    static const char * const cmdExtToSpcFormat[] = {
 	"spice2",
 	"spice3",
 	"hspice",
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *yesno[] = {
+    static const char * const yesno[] = {
 	"yes",
 	"true",
 	"on",
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *subcktopts[] = {
+    static const char * const subcktopts[] = {
 	"yes",
 	"true",
 	"on",
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
 	NULL
     };
 
-    static char *shorttypes[] = {
+    static const char * const shorttypes[] = {
 	"none",
 	"resistor",
 	"voltage",
@@ -649,7 +649,8 @@ CmdExtToSpice(w, cmd)
 	    if (cmd->tx_argc == 2)
 	    {
 #ifdef MAGIC_WRAPPER
-		Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, cmdExtToSpcFormat[esFormat], NULL);
+		/* FIXME check NULL is ok here, should this be TCL_STATIC ?  TCL_STATIC==0  maybe using TCL_STATIC is better? */
+		Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, (char*)cmdExtToSpcFormat[esFormat], NULL);
 #else
 		TxPrintf("Format:  %s\n", cmdExtToSpcFormat[esFormat]);
 #endif
@@ -1181,7 +1182,7 @@ main(argc, argv)
 
     esSpiceDevsMerged = 0;
 
-    static char *spiceFormats[] = {
+    static const char * const spiceFormats[] = {
 	"SPICE2", "SPICE3", "HSPICE", "NGSPICE", NULL
     };
 
diff --git a/windows/windCmdAM.c b/windows/windCmdAM.c
index 81f5d4a8..c51ac9eb 100644
--- a/windows/windCmdAM.c
+++ b/windows/windCmdAM.c
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ windBorderCmd(w, cmd)
 {
     int place;
     bool value;
-    static char *onoff[] = {"on", "off", 0};
-    static bool truth[] = {TRUE, FALSE};
+    static const char * const onoff[] = {"on", "off", 0};
+    static const bool truth[] = {TRUE, FALSE};
 
     if (cmd->tx_argc > 2) goto usage;
     else if (cmd->tx_argc == 1)
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ windBorderCmd(w, cmd)
 	value = (w->w_flags & WIND_BORDER) ? 0 : 1;
 
 #ifdef MAGIC_WRAPPER
-	Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, onoff[value], TCL_STATIC);
+        /* this cast to remove const is ok, TCL_STATIC conveys the storage handling of this string */
+	Tcl_SetResult(magicinterp, (char *)onoff[value], TCL_STATIC);
 #else
 	TxPrintf("Window border is %s\n", onoff[value]);
 #endif
@@ -151,8 +152,8 @@ windCaptionCmd(w, cmd)
 {
     int place;
     Rect ts;
-    static char *onoff[] = {"on", "off", 0};
-    static bool truth[] = {TRUE, FALSE};
+    static const char * const onoff[] = {"on", "off", 0};
+    static const bool truth[] = {TRUE, FALSE};
 
     if (cmd->tx_argc > 2) goto usage;
     else if (cmd->tx_argc == 1)
@@ -903,7 +904,7 @@ windLogCommandsCmd(w, cmd)
     unsigned char flags = 0;
     int idx = LOG_CMD_STOP;
 
-    static char *logKeywords[] = {"start", "stop", "update", "suspend", "resume", 0};
+    static const char * const logKeywords[] = {"start", "stop", "update", "suspend", "resume", 0};
 
     if ((cmd->tx_argc < 1) || (cmd->tx_argc > 3)) goto usage;