diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2d8fccb17baab9d97237224fe2434dd8e89d7bbb..6f6a912d235a3dd4231d57eece105eae2412193e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -91,14 +91,14 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([optimization], [AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-optimization],
         [CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS} -O99"]
         )
 
-AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to enable hidden visibility...)
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to enable symbol visibility manipulation...)
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([visibility], [AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-visibility],
-        [disable hidden visibility [default=enabled] ])],
+        [disable symbol visibility manipulation [default=enabled] ])],
         [AC_MSG_RESULT(no)]
         ,
         [AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)]
-        [CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS} -fvisibility=hidden -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"]
+        [CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS} -fvisibility=default -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"]
         )
 
 
diff --git a/src/graph/graph.hh b/src/graph/graph.hh
index 67cc5e9124a9e916a0e08d44ec596e73c68b570a..4353fcbab797d8fded7737db30a29e28bc9d140e 100644
--- a/src/graph/graph.hh
+++ b/src/graph/graph.hh
@@ -51,9 +51,6 @@ template <class Action, class GraphViews,
 struct graph_action;
 }
 
-// default visibility is necessary for related typeinfo objects to work across
-// DSO boundaries
-#pragma GCC visibility push(default)
 class GraphInterface
 {
 public:
@@ -214,7 +211,6 @@ private:
     bool _edge_filter_invert;
     bool _edge_filter_active;
 };
-#pragma GCC visibility pop
 
 // Exceptions
 // ==========
@@ -222,7 +218,6 @@ private:
 // This is the main exception which will be thrown the outside world, when
 // things go wrong
 
-#pragma GCC visibility push(default)
 class GraphException : public std::exception
 {
     string _error;
@@ -233,7 +228,6 @@ public:
 protected:
     virtual void SetError(const string& error) {_error = error;}
 };
-#pragma GCC visibility pop
 
 } //namespace graph_tool
 
diff --git a/src/graph/graph_bind.cc b/src/graph/graph_bind.cc
index 6b55198f79590f3448b35b83cfff207796f57978..f7347ea84e970615240bca159acd980bb3ae79d8 100644
--- a/src/graph/graph_bind.cc
+++ b/src/graph/graph_bind.cc
@@ -363,3 +363,4 @@ BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(libgraph_tool_core)
         .add_property("install_prefix", &LibInfo::GetInstallPrefix)
         .add_property("python_dir", &LibInfo::GetPythonDir);
 }
+
diff --git a/src/graph/graph_filtering.hh b/src/graph/graph_filtering.hh
index 4d16674e0173a769fd6574df99937d034010acea..dd380c2cc5b4265222a830305064c71f8bc93339 100644
--- a/src/graph/graph_filtering.hh
+++ b/src/graph/graph_filtering.hh
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ using namespace boost;
 // appropriate graph view type and ValueType being 'double' and val = 42.0.
 
 // Whenever no implementation is called, the following exception is thrown
-#pragma GCC visibility push(default)
 class ActionNotFound: public GraphException
 {
 public:
@@ -119,7 +118,6 @@ private:
     const type_info& _action;
     vector<const type_info*> _args;
 };
-#pragma GCC visibility pop
 
 namespace detail
 {
@@ -496,7 +494,6 @@ BOOST_MPL_ASSERT_RELATION(n_views::value, == , mpl::int_<3>::value);
 
 // wrap action to be called, to deal with property maps, i.e., return version
 // with no bounds checking.
-
 template <class Action>
 struct action_wrap
 {
diff --git a/src/graph/mpl_nested_loop.hh b/src/graph/mpl_nested_loop.hh
index cf720bd60ed005d88ae73c0c7a5b83b922111697..482153cd88191cee24a2f1c4cf43dd0c6c81a716 100644
--- a/src/graph/mpl_nested_loop.hh
+++ b/src/graph/mpl_nested_loop.hh
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ namespace boost
 {
 namespace mpl
 {
-
 // The following is a implementation of a nested for_each loop, which runs a
 // given Action functor for each combination of its arguments, given by the type
 // ranges, as such:
@@ -327,7 +326,6 @@ struct selected_types
     any _a1, _a2, _a3, _a4, _a5;
 };
 
-
 } // mpl namespace
 } // boost namespace