diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dCInstance.h b/direct/src/plugin/p3dCInstance.h
index ed6f0a856e..976b14007e 100755
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dCInstance.h
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dCInstance.h
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 #include "pvector.h"
 
 #include <Python.h>
-#define TIXML_USE_STL
 #include <tinyxml.h>
 
 class P3DSession;
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dPythonRun.h b/direct/src/plugin/p3dPythonRun.h
index b980b29468..e89c2643f9 100755
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dPythonRun.h
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dPythonRun.h
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@
 #include <Python.h>
 #include <tinyxml.h>
 
+// Python 2.5 adds Py_ssize_t; earlier versions don't have it.
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02050000 && !defined(PY_SSIZE_T_MIN)
+typedef int Py_ssize_t;
+#define PY_SSIZE_T_MAX INT_MAX
+#define PY_SSIZE_T_MIN INT_MIN
+#endif
+
 using namespace std;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////