diff --git a/src/vmime/types.hpp b/src/vmime/types.hpp
index 12e5bf71..7e5b7ee8 100644
--- a/src/vmime/types.hpp
+++ b/src/vmime/types.hpp
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 	#include <boost/make_shared.hpp>
 	#include <boost/enable_shared_from_this.hpp>
 	#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
+	#include <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp>
 
 	#define VMIME_SHARED_PTR_NAMESPACE boost
 #else
@@ -73,6 +74,12 @@ namespace vmime
 	{
 		void operator()(T*) const {}
 	};
+
+#if VMIME_SHARED_PTR_USE_CXX
+	template <typename T> using scoped_ptr = std::unique_ptr <T>;
+#else
+	using VMIME_SHARED_PTR_NAMESPACE::scoped_ptr;
+#endif
 }
 
 #undef VMIME_SHARED_PTR_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/src/vmime/word.cpp b/src/vmime/word.cpp
index 2229857c..1a70a785 100644
--- a/src/vmime/word.cpp
+++ b/src/vmime/word.cpp
@@ -287,17 +287,17 @@ void word::parseImpl
 					const string::const_iterator dataEnd = p;
 					p += 2; // skip '?='
 
-					utility::encoder::encoder* theEncoder = NULL;
+					scoped_ptr <utility::encoder::encoder> theEncoder;
 
 					// Base-64 encoding
 					if (*encPos == 'B' || *encPos == 'b')
 					{
-						theEncoder = new utility::encoder::b64Encoder();
+						theEncoder.reset(new utility::encoder::b64Encoder());
 					}
 					// Quoted-Printable encoding
 					else if (*encPos == 'Q' || *encPos == 'q')
 					{
-						theEncoder = new utility::encoder::qpEncoder();
+						theEncoder.reset(new utility::encoder::qpEncoder());
 						theEncoder->getProperties()["rfc2047"] = true;
 					}
 
@@ -325,7 +325,6 @@ void word::parseImpl
 						utility::outputStreamStringAdapter eout(decodedBuffer);
 
 						theEncoder->decode(ein, eout);
-						delete (theEncoder);
 
 						m_buffer = decodedBuffer;