diff --git a/news/fix-macro-and-other-minor-errors.rst b/news/fix-macro-and-other-minor-errors.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..96dd6ecac3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/fix-macro-and-other-minor-errors.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+**Added:** None
+
+**Changed:**
+- In `src/pyne.h`, replace a macro `isnan()` with `using std::isnan`, as the former has led to undesired macro expansion in Boost header files.
+
+**Deprecated:** None
+
+**Removed:**
+- A duplicate `using std::list` in `src/hdf5_back.cc.in`, which triggers compiler errors with some GCC versions.
+
+**Fixed:** 
+- Issue #1312
+
+**Security:** None
diff --git a/src/hdf5_back.cc.in b/src/hdf5_back.cc.in
index 5a871169f4..fb876fe4eb 100644
--- a/src/hdf5_back.cc.in
+++ b/src/hdf5_back.cc.in
@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@ void Hdf5Back::CreateTable(Datum* d) {
   using std::vector;
   using std::list;
   using std::pair;
-  using std::list;
   using std::map;
   Datum::Vals vals = d->vals();
   hsize_t nvals = vals.size();
diff --git a/src/pyne.h b/src/pyne.h
index b040161758..c05886838e 100644
--- a/src/pyne.h
+++ b/src/pyne.h
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
 
 #if (__GNUC__ >= 4)
   #include <cmath>
-  #define isnan(x) std::isnan(x)
+  using std::isnan;
 #else
   #include <math.h>
   #define isnan(x) __isnand((double)x)