diff --git a/src/fpm/dependency.f90 b/src/fpm/dependency.f90
index 28472cb739..6cc87e4212 100644
--- a/src/fpm/dependency.f90
+++ b/src/fpm/dependency.f90
@@ -60,8 +60,7 @@ module fpm_dependency
   use fpm_error, only: error_t, fatal_error
   use fpm_filesystem, only: exists, join_path, mkdir, canon_path, windows_path, list_files, is_dir, basename, &
                             os_delete_dir, get_temp_filename
-  use fpm_git, only: git_target_revision, git_target_default, git_revision, operator(==), &
-                     serializable_t
+  use fpm_git, only: git_target_revision, git_target_default, git_revision, serializable_t
   use fpm_manifest, only: package_config_t, dependency_config_t, get_package_data
   use fpm_manifest_dependency, only: manifest_has_changed, dependency_destroy
   use fpm_manifest_preprocess, only: operator(==)
diff --git a/src/fpm/git.f90 b/src/fpm/git.f90
index 22b4179553..13ef0e2496 100644
--- a/src/fpm/git.f90
+++ b/src/fpm/git.f90
@@ -62,11 +62,6 @@ module fpm_git
 
     end type git_target_t
 
-
-    interface operator(==)
-        module procedure git_target_eq
-    end interface
-
     !> Common output format for writing to the command line
     character(len=*), parameter :: out_fmt = '("#", *(1x, g0))'
 
@@ -144,18 +139,6 @@ function git_target_tag(url, tag) result(self)
 
     end function git_target_tag
 
-    !> Check that two git targets are equal
-    logical function git_target_eq(this,that) result(is_equal)
-
-        !> Two input git targets
-        type(git_target_t), intent(in) :: this,that
-
-        is_equal = this%descriptor == that%descriptor .and. &
-                   this%url        == that%url        .and. &
-                   this%object     == that%object
-
-    end function git_target_eq
-
     !> Check that two git targets are equal
     logical function git_is_same(this,that)
         class(git_target_t), intent(in) :: this
diff --git a/src/fpm/manifest/dependency.f90 b/src/fpm/manifest/dependency.f90
index 3ebbad7de6..10fd791297 100644
--- a/src/fpm/manifest/dependency.f90
+++ b/src/fpm/manifest/dependency.f90
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 module fpm_manifest_dependency
     use fpm_error, only: error_t, syntax_error, fatal_error
     use fpm_git, only: git_target_t, git_target_tag, git_target_branch, &
-        & git_target_revision, git_target_default, operator(==), git_matches_manifest
+        & git_target_revision, git_target_default, git_matches_manifest
     use fpm_toml, only: toml_table, toml_key, toml_stat, get_value, check_keys, serializable_t, add_table, &
         & set_value, set_string
     use fpm_filesystem, only: windows_path, join_path
diff --git a/src/fpm/toml.f90 b/src/fpm/toml.f90
index cdade643c0..1bbcfe9886 100644
--- a/src/fpm/toml.f90
+++ b/src/fpm/toml.f90
@@ -36,19 +36,19 @@ module fpm_toml
         contains
 
         !> Dump to TOML table, unit, file
-        procedure(to_toml), deferred, private :: dump_to_toml
+        procedure(to_toml), deferred :: dump_to_toml
         procedure, non_overridable, private :: dump_to_file
         procedure, non_overridable, private :: dump_to_unit
         generic :: dump => dump_to_toml, dump_to_file, dump_to_unit
 
         !> Load from TOML table, unit, file
-        procedure(from_toml), deferred, private :: load_from_toml
+        procedure(from_toml), deferred :: load_from_toml
         procedure, non_overridable, private :: load_from_file
         procedure, non_overridable, private :: load_from_unit
         generic :: load => load_from_toml, load_from_file, load_from_unit
 
         !> Serializable entities need a way to check that they're equal
-        procedure(is_equal), deferred, private :: serializable_is_same
+        procedure(is_equal), deferred :: serializable_is_same
         generic :: operator(==) => serializable_is_same
 
         !> Test load/write roundtrip
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ subroutine set_character(table, key, var, error, whereAt)
         character(len=*), intent(in) :: key
 
         !> The character variable
-        character(len=:), allocatable, intent(in) :: var
+        character(len=*), optional, intent(in) :: var
 
         !> Error handling
         type(error_t), allocatable, intent(out) :: error
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ subroutine set_character(table, key, var, error, whereAt)
             return
         end if
 
-        if (allocated(var)) then
+        if (present(var)) then
             call set_value(table, key, var, ierr)
             if (ierr/=toml_stat%success) then
                 call fatal_error(error,'cannot set character key <'//key//'> in TOML table')