diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 62ccc022..d67f94c2 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  * Copyright (C) 2016-2023 simplecpp team
  */
 
+#define SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR 0
 #include "simplecpp.h"
 
 #include <cstdlib>
diff --git a/simplecpp.h b/simplecpp.h
index 46a43bc4..54f6a90c 100644
--- a/simplecpp.h
+++ b/simplecpp.h
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@
 #ifndef SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR
 // still provide the legacy API in case we lack the performant wrappers
 #  if !defined(__cpp_lib_string_view) && !defined(__cpp_lib_span)
-#    define SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR
+#    define SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR 1
+#  else
+#    define SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR 0
 #  endif
 #endif
 
@@ -267,7 +269,7 @@ namespace simplecpp {
         TokenList(const unsigned char (&data)[size], std::vector<std::string> &filenames, const std::string &filename=std::string(), OutputList *outputList = nullptr)
             : TokenList(data, size-1, filenames, filename, outputList, 0)
         {}
-#ifdef SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR
+#if SIMPLECPP_TOKENLIST_ALLOW_PTR
         /** generates a token list from the given buffer */
         TokenList(const unsigned char* data, std::size_t size, std::vector<std::string> &filenames, const std::string &filename=std::string(), OutputList *outputList = nullptr)
             : TokenList(data, size, filenames, filename, outputList, 0)