diff --git a/src/io/api.c b/src/io/api.c
index 03dbf1f57a..6b5582b430 100644
--- a/src/io/api.c
+++ b/src/io/api.c
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@ io_setup_vtables(PARROT_INTERP)
 {
     ASSERT_ARGS(io_setup_vtables)
     const int number_of_vtables = 5;
-    interp->piodata->vtables = (const IO_VTABLE*)mem_gc_allocate_n_zeroed_typed(interp,
-                                                                number_of_vtables, const IO_VTABLE);
+    interp->piodata->vtables = (IO_VTABLE*)mem_gc_allocate_n_zeroed_typed(interp,
+                                   number_of_vtables, IO_VTABLE);
     interp->piodata->num_vtables = number_of_vtables;
     io_filehandle_setup_vtable(interp, NULL, IO_VTABLE_FILEHANDLE);
     io_socket_setup_vtable(interp, NULL, IO_VTABLE_SOCKET);
@@ -145,13 +145,13 @@ Parrot_io_allocate_new_vtable(PARROT_INTERP, ARGIN(const char *name))
     const int number_of_vtables = interp->piodata->num_vtables;
     IO_VTABLE *vtable;
     interp->piodata->vtables = mem_gc_realloc_n_typed(interp,
-                                (void *)interp->piodata->vtables,
-                                number_of_vtables + 1, const IO_VTABLE);
+                                interp->piodata->vtables,
+                                number_of_vtables + 1, IO_VTABLE);
     vtable = IO_EDITABLE_IO_VTABLE(interp, number_of_vtables);
     vtable->name = name;
     vtable->number = number_of_vtables;
     interp->piodata->num_vtables++;
-    return (const IO_VTABLE *)vtable;
+    return vtable;
 }
 
 PARROT_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
diff --git a/src/io/io_private.h b/src/io/io_private.h
index 4d56937f91..4d4261a9f6 100644
--- a/src/io/io_private.h
+++ b/src/io/io_private.h
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ DIAGRAM
 struct _ParrotIOData {
     PMC ** table;               /* Standard IO Streams (STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR) */
     INTVAL num_vtables;         /* Number of vtables */
-    const IO_VTABLE * vtables;  /* Array of VTABLES */
+    IO_VTABLE * vtables;        /* Array of VTABLES */
 };
 
 /* redefine PIO_STD* for internal use */
@@ -168,8 +168,8 @@ struct _ParrotIOData {
     } while (0);
 
 /* Get an editable version of the IO_VTABLE structure, typically used during
-   vtable initialization. cast the const away. */
-#define IO_EDITABLE_IO_VTABLE(i, idx) (IO_VTABLE *)(&((i)->piodata->vtables[(idx)]))
+   vtable initialization. */
+#define IO_EDITABLE_IO_VTABLE(i, idx) &((i)->piodata->vtables[(idx)])
 
 
 /* HEADERIZER BEGIN: src/io/utilities.c */