diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index a07f37f..69dd2e9 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/sh
 if [ ! -d "build" ]; then
     mkdir build
 fi
diff --git a/include/cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h b/include/cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h
index 7dc67a3..2973581 100644
--- a/include/cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h
+++ b/include/cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ typedef struct cn_cbor_context {
  * @param[out] errp         Error, if NULL is returned
  * @return                  The parsed CBOR structure, or NULL on error
  */
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_decode(const uint8_t *buf, size_t len CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cbor_errback *errp);
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_decode(const uint8_t *buf, size_t len CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cbor_errback *errp);
 
 /**
  * Get a value from a CBOR map that has the given string as a key.
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_decode(const uint8_t *buf, size_t len CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cb
  * @param[in]  key          The string to look up in the map
  * @return                  The matching value, or NULL if the key is not found
  */
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key);
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key);
 
 /**
  * Get a value from a CBOR map that has the given integer as a key.
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key);
  * @param[in]  key          The int to look up in the map
  * @return                  The matching value, or NULL if the key is not found
  */
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key);
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key);
 
 /**
  * Get the item with the given index from a CBOR array.
@@ -243,15 +243,17 @@ const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key);
  * @param[in]  idx          The array index
  * @return                  The matching value, or NULL if the index is invalid
  */
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_index(const cn_cbor* cb, unsigned int idx);
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_index(const cn_cbor* cb, unsigned int idx);
 
 /**
  * Free the given CBOR structure.
+ * You MUST NOT try to free a cn_cbor structure with a parent (i.e., one
+ * that is not a root in the tree).
  *
- * @param[in]  cb           The CBOR value to free
+ * @param[in]  cb           The CBOR value to free.  May be NULL, or a root object.
  * @param[in]  CBOR_CONTEXT Allocation context (only if USE_CBOR_CONTEXT is defined)
  */
-void cn_cbor_free(const cn_cbor* cb CBOR_CONTEXT);
+void cn_cbor_free(cn_cbor* cb CBOR_CONTEXT);
 
 /**
  * Write a CBOR value and all of the child values.
@@ -263,10 +265,10 @@ void cn_cbor_free(const cn_cbor* cb CBOR_CONTEXT);
  * @param[in]  cb         [description]
  * @return                -1 on fail, or number of bytes written
  */
-ssize_t cbor_encoder_write(uint8_t *buf,
-                           size_t buf_offset,
-                           size_t buf_size,
-                           const cn_cbor *cb);
+ssize_t cn_cbor_encoder_write(uint8_t *buf,
+			      size_t buf_offset,
+			      size_t buf_size,
+			      const cn_cbor *cb);
 
 /**
  * Create a CBOR map.
diff --git a/src/cn-cbor.c b/src/cn-cbor.c
index a0cd06c..84c524c 100644
--- a/src/cn-cbor.c
+++ b/src/cn-cbor.c
@@ -13,15 +13,18 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <string.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <math.h>
+#ifdef CBOR_CAN_DO_UNALIGNED_READS
 #include <arpa/inet.h> // needed for ntohl (e.g.) on Linux
+#endif
 
 #include "cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h"
 #include "cbor.h"
 
 #define CN_CBOR_FAIL(code) do { pb->err = code;  goto fail; } while(0)
 
-void cn_cbor_free(const cn_cbor* cb CBOR_CONTEXT) {
-  cn_cbor* p = (cn_cbor*) cb;
+void cn_cbor_free(cn_cbor* cb CBOR_CONTEXT) {
+  cn_cbor* p = cb;
+  assert(!p || !p->parent);
   while (p) {
     cn_cbor* p1;
     while ((p1 = p->first_child)) { /* go down */
@@ -50,8 +53,23 @@ static double decode_half(int half) {
 
 /* Fix these if you can't do non-aligned reads */
 #define ntoh8p(p) (*(unsigned char*)(p))
+#ifdef CBOR_CAN_DO_UNALIGNED_READS
 #define ntoh16p(p) (ntohs(*(unsigned short*)(p)))
 #define ntoh32p(p) (ntohl(*(unsigned long*)(p)))
+#else
+static uint16_t ntoh16p(unsigned char *p) {
+  uint16_t ret = ntoh8p(p);
+  ret <<= 8;
+  ret += ntoh8p(p+1);
+  return ret;
+}
+static uint32_t ntoh32p(unsigned char *p) {
+  uint64_t ret = ntoh16p(p);
+  ret <<= 16;
+  ret += ntoh16p(p+2);
+  return ret;
+}
+#endif
 static uint64_t ntoh64p(unsigned char *p) {
   uint64_t ret = ntoh32p(p);
   ret <<= 32;
@@ -237,7 +255,7 @@ static cn_cbor *decode_item (struct parse_buf *pb CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cbor* top_par
   return 0;
 }
 
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_decode(const unsigned char* buf, size_t len CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cbor_errback *errp) {
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_decode(const unsigned char* buf, size_t len CBOR_CONTEXT, cn_cbor_errback *errp) {
   cn_cbor catcher = {CN_CBOR_INVALID, 0, {0}, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL};
   struct parse_buf pb;
   cn_cbor* ret;
diff --git a/src/cn-encoder.c b/src/cn-encoder.c
index f53e2c6..8593b39 100644
--- a/src/cn-encoder.c
+++ b/src/cn-encoder.c
@@ -291,10 +291,10 @@ void _encoder_breaker(const cn_cbor *cb, int depth, void *context)
   write_byte_ensured(IB_BREAK);
 }
 
-ssize_t cbor_encoder_write(uint8_t *buf,
-                           size_t buf_offset,
-                           size_t buf_size,
-                           const cn_cbor *cb)
+ssize_t cn_cbor_encoder_write(uint8_t *buf,
+			      size_t buf_offset,
+			      size_t buf_size,
+			      const cn_cbor *cb)
 {
   cn_write_state ws = { buf, buf_offset, buf_size };
   _visit(cb, _encoder_visitor, _encoder_breaker, &ws);
diff --git a/src/cn-get.c b/src/cn-get.c
index f4585b9..cc276a5 100644
--- a/src/cn-get.c
+++ b/src/cn-get.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "cn-cbor/cn-cbor.h"
 
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key) {
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key) {
   cn_cbor* cp;
   assert(cb);
   for (cp = cb->first_child; cp && cp->next; cp = cp->next->next) {
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_int(const cn_cbor* cb, int key) {
   return NULL;
 }
 
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key) {
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key) {
   cn_cbor *cp;
   int keylen;
   assert(cb);
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_mapget_string(const cn_cbor* cb, const char* key) {
   return NULL;
 }
 
-const cn_cbor* cn_cbor_index(const cn_cbor* cb, unsigned int idx) {
+cn_cbor* cn_cbor_index(const cn_cbor* cb, unsigned int idx) {
   cn_cbor *cp;
   unsigned int i = 0;
   assert(cb);
diff --git a/test/cbor_test.c b/test/cbor_test.c
index 43f73a4..3326497 100644
--- a/test/cbor_test.c
+++ b/test/cbor_test.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, parse)
         "9f009f00ff00ff",         // [_ 0, [_ 0], 0]
         "bf61610161629f0203ffff", // {_ "a": 1, "b": [_ 2, 3]}
     };
-    const cn_cbor *cb;
+    cn_cbor *cb;
     buffer b;
     size_t i;
     unsigned char encoded[1024];
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, parse)
         ASSERT_EQUAL(err.err, CN_CBOR_NO_ERROR);
         ASSERT_NOT_NULL(cb);
 
-        enc_sz = cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
+        enc_sz = cn_cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
         ASSERT_DATA(b.ptr, b.sz, encoded, enc_sz);
         free(b.ptr);
         cn_cbor_free(cb CONTEXT_NULL);
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, parse_normalize)
       "fb3e78000000000000", "fa33c00000", //  8.940696716308594e-08
       "fb3e80000000000000", "f90002",   // 1.1920928955078125e-07
     };
-    const cn_cbor *cb;
+    cn_cbor *cb;
     buffer b, b2;
     size_t i;
     unsigned char encoded[1024];
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, parse_normalize)
         ASSERT_EQUAL(err.err, CN_CBOR_NO_ERROR);
         ASSERT_NOT_NULL(cb);
 
-        enc_sz = cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
+        enc_sz = cn_cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
         ASSERT_DATA(b2.ptr, b2.sz, encoded, enc_sz);
         free(b.ptr);
         free(b2.ptr);
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, parse_normalize)
         ASSERT_NULL(cb);
 #endif /* CBOR_NO_FLOAT */
 
-        /* enc_sz = cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb); */
+        /* enc_sz = cn_cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb); */
         /* ASSERT_DATA(b2.ptr, b2.sz, encoded, enc_sz); */
         free(b.ptr);
         free(b2.ptr);
@@ -221,13 +221,13 @@ CTEST(cbor, fail)
         {"1c", CN_CBOR_ERR_RESERVED_AI},
         {"7f4100", CN_CBOR_ERR_WRONG_NESTING_IN_INDEF_STRING},
     };
-    const cn_cbor *cb;
+    cn_cbor *cb;
     buffer b;
     size_t i;
     uint8_t buf[10];
     cn_cbor inv = {CN_CBOR_INVALID, 0, {0}, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL};
 
-    ASSERT_EQUAL(-1, cbor_encoder_write(buf, 0, sizeof(buf), &inv));
+    ASSERT_EQUAL(-1, cn_cbor_encoder_write(buf, 0, sizeof(buf), &inv));
 
     for (i=0; i<sizeof(tests)/sizeof(cbor_failure); i++) {
         ASSERT_TRUE(parse_hex(tests[i].hex, &b));
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, float)
         "f9fc00", // -Inf
         "f97c00", // Inf
     };
-    const cn_cbor *cb;
+    cn_cbor *cb;
     buffer b;
     size_t i;
     unsigned char encoded[1024];
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ CTEST(cbor, float)
         cb = cn_cbor_decode(b.ptr, b.sz CONTEXT_NULL, &err);
         ASSERT_NOT_NULL(cb);
 
-        enc_sz = cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
+        enc_sz = cn_cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), cb);
         ASSERT_DATA(b.ptr, b.sz, encoded, enc_sz);
 
         free(b.ptr);
@@ -276,8 +276,8 @@ CTEST(cbor, float)
 CTEST(cbor, getset)
 {
     buffer b;
-    const cn_cbor *cb;
-    const cn_cbor *val;
+    cn_cbor *cb;
+    cn_cbor *val;
     cn_cbor_errback err;
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(parse_hex("a40000436363630262626201616100", &b));
@@ -425,6 +425,6 @@ CTEST(cbor, create_encode)
   ASSERT_NOT_NULL(cdata);
 
   ASSERT_TRUE(cn_cbor_mapput_int(map, 0, cdata, CONTEXT_NULL_COMMA NULL));
-  enc_sz = cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), map);
+  enc_sz = cn_cbor_encoder_write(encoded, 0, sizeof(encoded), map);
   ASSERT_EQUAL(7, enc_sz);
 }
diff --git a/test/test.c b/test/test.c
index 263f9fe..d24992f 100644
--- a/test/test.c
+++ b/test/test.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ int main() {
   char *bufend;
   unsigned char *s = load_file("cases.cbor", &end);
   printf("%zd\n", end-s);
-  const cn_cbor *cb = cn_cbor_decode(s, end-s CBOR_CONTEXT_PARAM, 0);
+  cn_cbor *cb = cn_cbor_decode(s, end-s CBOR_CONTEXT_PARAM, 0);
   if (cb) {
     dump(cb, buf, &bufend, 0);
     *bufend = 0;