diff --git a/tests/check/gst/gstiterator.c b/tests/check/gst/gstiterator.c
index e6d9389280..1eff6516df 100644
--- a/tests/check/gst/gstiterator.c
+++ b/tests/check/gst/gstiterator.c
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ GST_END_TEST;
 GST_START_TEST (test_single)
 {
   GstIterator *it;
-  GstStructure *s = gst_structure_new ("test", NULL);
+  GstStructure *s = gst_structure_empty_new ("test");
   GValue v = { 0, };
   GstStructure *i;
 
diff --git a/tests/check/gst/gststructure.c b/tests/check/gst/gststructure.c
index 4608ec86d9..104b3e8931 100644
--- a/tests/check/gst/gststructure.c
+++ b/tests/check/gst/gststructure.c
@@ -183,12 +183,12 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_to_string)
 {
   GstStructure *st1;
 
-  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_new ("Foo\nwith-newline", NULL));
+  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_empty_new ("Foo\nwith-newline"));
   fail_unless (st1 == NULL);
 
-  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_new ("Foo with whitespace", NULL));
+  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_empty_new ("Foo with whitespace"));
   fail_unless (st1 == NULL);
-  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_new ("1st", NULL));
+  ASSERT_CRITICAL (st1 = gst_structure_empty_new ("1st"));
   fail_unless (st1 == NULL);
 }
 
@@ -321,8 +321,8 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_structure_new)
   g_error_free (e);
   gst_structure_free (s);
 
-  ASSERT_CRITICAL (gst_structure_free (gst_structure_new
-          ("0.10:decoder-video/mpeg", NULL)));
+  ASSERT_CRITICAL (gst_structure_free (gst_structure_empty_new
+          ("0.10:decoder-video/mpeg")));
 
   /* make sure we bail out correctly in case of an error or if parsing fails */
   ASSERT_CRITICAL (s = gst_structure_new ("^joo\nba\ndoo^",
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_fixate_frac_list)
   gst_value_set_fraction (&frac, 10, 1);
   gst_value_list_append_value (&list, &frac);
 
-  s = gst_structure_new ("name", NULL);
+  s = gst_structure_empty_new ("name");
   gst_structure_set_value (s, "frac", &list);
   g_value_unset (&frac);
   g_value_unset (&list);
diff --git a/tests/check/pipelines/simple-launch-lines.c b/tests/check/pipelines/simple-launch-lines.c
index dd85b7a67f..79cfab47a6 100644
--- a/tests/check/pipelines/simple-launch-lines.c
+++ b/tests/check/pipelines/simple-launch-lines.c
@@ -239,8 +239,8 @@ static void
 got_handoff (GstElement * sink, GstBuffer * buf, GstPad * pad, gpointer unused)
 {
   gst_element_post_message
-      (sink, gst_message_new_application (NULL, gst_structure_new ("foo",
-              NULL)));
+      (sink, gst_message_new_application (NULL,
+          gst_structure_empty_new ("foo")));
 }
 
 static void