diff --git a/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.cpp b/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.cpp
index a696c9070..20930fd90 100644
--- a/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.cpp
@@ -27,47 +27,6 @@
 
 namespace ripple {
 
-// VFALCO TODO Replace these with something more robust and without macros.
-//
-#if ! BEAST_MSVC
-#define _vsnprintf(a,b,c,d) vsnprintf(a,b,c,d)
-#endif
-
-std::string strprintf (const char* format, ...)
-{
-    char buffer[50000];
-    char* p = buffer;
-    int limit = sizeof (buffer);
-    int ret;
-
-    for (;;)
-    {
-        va_list arg_ptr;
-        va_start (arg_ptr, format);
-        ret = _vsnprintf (p, limit, format, arg_ptr);
-        va_end (arg_ptr);
-
-        if (ret >= 0 && ret < limit)
-            break;
-
-        if (p != buffer)
-            delete[] p;
-
-        limit *= 2;
-        p = new char[limit];
-
-        if (p == nullptr)
-            throw std::bad_alloc ();
-    }
-
-    std::string str (p, p + ret);
-
-    if (p != buffer)
-        delete[] p;
-
-    return str;
-}
-
 // NIKB NOTE: This function is only used by strUnHex (std::string const& strSrc)
 // which results in a pointless copy from std::string into std::vector. Should
 // we just scrap this function altogether?
diff --git a/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.h b/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.h
index e3998dc29..8f333e0e5 100644
--- a/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.h
+++ b/src/ripple/basics/utility/StringUtilities.h
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 
 namespace ripple {
 
-extern std::string strprintf (const char* format, ...);
-
 extern std::string urlEncode (std::string const& strSrc);
 
 // NIKB TODO remove this function - it's only used for some logging in the UNL
@@ -109,16 +107,9 @@ std::string strCopy (Blob const& vucSrc);
 
 bool parseIpPort (std::string const& strSource, std::string& strIP, int& iPort);
 
-inline std::string strGetEnv (std::string const& strKey)
-{
-    return getenv (strKey.c_str ()) ? getenv (strKey.c_str ()) : "";
-}
-
 bool parseUrl (std::string const& strUrl, std::string& strScheme,
                std::string& strDomain, int& iPort, std::string& strPath);
 
-#define ADDRESS(p) strHex(uint64( ((char*) p) - ((char*) 0)))
-
 /** Create a Parameters from a String.
 
     Parameter strings have the format:
diff --git a/src/ripple/module/core/Config.cpp b/src/ripple/module/core/Config.cpp
index 76aadefd6..6949680f2 100644
--- a/src/ripple/module/core/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/module/core/Config.cpp
@@ -383,6 +383,20 @@ Config::Config ()
     START_UP                = NORMAL;
 }
 
+static
+std::string
+getEnvVar (char const* name)
+{
+    std::string value;
+
+    auto const v = getenv (name);
+
+    if (v != nullptr)
+        value = v;
+
+    return value;
+}
+
 void Config::setup (std::string const& strConf, bool bQuiet)
 {
     boost::system::error_code   ec;
@@ -418,35 +432,35 @@ void Config::setup (std::string const& strConf, bool bQuiet)
         CONFIG_FILE             = CONFIG_DIR / strConfFile;
         DATA_DIR                = CONFIG_DIR / strDbPath;
 
+        // Construct XDG config and data home.
+        // http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html
+        std::string strHome          = getEnvVar ("HOME");
+        std::string strXdgConfigHome = getEnvVar ("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+        std::string strXdgDataHome   = getEnvVar ("XDG_DATA_HOME");
+
         if (boost::filesystem::exists (CONFIG_FILE)
                 // Can we figure out XDG dirs?
-                || (!getenv ("HOME") && (!getenv ("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") || !getenv ("XDG_DATA_HOME"))))
+                || (strHome.empty () && (strXdgConfigHome.empty () || strXdgDataHome.empty ())))
         {
             // Current working directory is fine, put dbs in a subdir.
         }
         else
         {
-            // Construct XDG config and data home.
-            // http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html
-            std::string strHome             = strGetEnv ("HOME");
-            std::string strXdgConfigHome    = strGetEnv ("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
-            std::string strXdgDataHome      = strGetEnv ("XDG_DATA_HOME");
-
             if (strXdgConfigHome.empty ())
             {
                 // $XDG_CONFIG_HOME was not set, use default based on $HOME.
-                strXdgConfigHome    = boost::str (boost::format ("%s/.config") % strHome);
+                strXdgConfigHome    = strHome + "/.config";
             }
 
             if (strXdgDataHome.empty ())
             {
                 // $XDG_DATA_HOME was not set, use default based on $HOME.
-                strXdgDataHome  = boost::str (boost::format ("%s/.local/share") % strHome);
+                strXdgDataHome  = strHome + "/.local/share";
             }
 
-            CONFIG_DIR          = boost::str (boost::format ("%s/" SYSTEM_NAME) % strXdgConfigHome);
-            CONFIG_FILE         = CONFIG_DIR / strConfFile;
-            DATA_DIR            = boost::str (boost::format ("%s/" SYSTEM_NAME) % strXdgDataHome);
+            CONFIG_DIR  = strXdgConfigHome + "/" SYSTEM_NAME;
+            CONFIG_FILE = CONFIG_DIR / strConfFile;
+            DATA_DIR    = strXdgDataHome + "/" SYSTEM_NAME;
 
             boost::filesystem::create_directories (CONFIG_DIR, ec);
 
diff --git a/src/ripple/module/net/rpc/RPCCall.cpp b/src/ripple/module/net/rpc/RPCCall.cpp
index 3c9a0637f..319c91ff0 100644
--- a/src/ripple/module/net/rpc/RPCCall.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/module/net/rpc/RPCCall.cpp
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ struct RPCCallImp
             if (iStatus == 401)
                 throw std::runtime_error ("incorrect rpcuser or rpcpassword (authorization failed)");
             else if ((iStatus >= 400) && (iStatus != 400) && (iStatus != 404) && (iStatus != 500)) // ?
-                throw std::runtime_error (strprintf ("server returned HTTP error %d", iStatus));
+                throw std::runtime_error (std::string ("server returned HTTP error %d") + std::to_string (iStatus));
             else if (strData.empty ())
                 throw std::runtime_error ("no response from server");