diff --git a/include/etl/span.h b/include/etl/span.h
index 698b8f11..dcc7d22a 100644
--- a/include/etl/span.h
+++ b/include/etl/span.h
@@ -947,22 +947,25 @@ namespace etl
 #endif
 
   //*************************************************************************
-  /// Obtains a view to the object representation of the elements of the span s.
+  /// Obtains a view to the byte representation of the elements of the span s.
   //*************************************************************************
-
-  template <class T, std::size_t N>
-  auto as_bytes(span<T, N> s) ETL_NOEXCEPT
+  template <class T, size_t N>
+  span<const byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T))> 
+    as_bytes(span<T, N> s) ETL_NOEXCEPT
   {
-    return span <const byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T)) > {reinterpret_cast<byte*>(s.data()), s.size_bytes()};
+    return span<const byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T))>(reinterpret_cast<byte*>(s.data()), s.size_bytes());
   }
 
-  template <class T, std::size_t N>
-  auto as_writable_bytes(span<T, N> s) ETL_NOEXCEPT
+  //*************************************************************************
+  /// Obtains a view to the byte representation of the elements of the span s.
+  //*************************************************************************
+  template <class T, size_t N>
+  span<byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T))> 
+    as_writable_bytes(span<T, N> s) ETL_NOEXCEPT
   {
-    ETL_STATIC_ASSERT(not etl::is_const<T>::value, "span<T> must be of non-const type");
-    return span <byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T)) > {reinterpret_cast<byte*>(s.data()), s.size_bytes()};
+    ETL_STATIC_ASSERT(!etl::is_const<T>::value, "span<T> must be of non-const type");
+    return span<byte, (N == etl::dynamic_extent) ? (etl::dynamic_extent) : (N * sizeof(T))>(reinterpret_cast<byte*>(s.data()), s.size_bytes());
   }
-
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/test/test_span_dynamic_extent.cpp b/test/test_span_dynamic_extent.cpp
index 17ac913a..2cd46b68 100644
--- a/test/test_span_dynamic_extent.cpp
+++ b/test/test_span_dynamic_extent.cpp
@@ -1128,13 +1128,13 @@ namespace
     //*************************************************************************
     TEST(test_convert_span_any_to_span_byte)
     {
-      /* mutable */ float data[2]{3.141592f, 2.71828f };
+      float data[2]{3.141592f, 2.71828f };
 
-      auto const const_bytes = etl::as_bytes(etl::span<float, etl::dynamic_extent>{data});
+      auto const const_bytes    = etl::as_bytes(etl::span<float, etl::dynamic_extent>{data});
       auto const writable_bytes = etl::as_writable_bytes(etl::span<float, etl::dynamic_extent>{data});
 
-      CHECK_TRUE(const_bytes.size() == sizeof(data));
-      CHECK_TRUE(writable_bytes.size() == sizeof(data));
+      CHECK_EQUAL(const_bytes.size(),    sizeof(data));
+      CHECK_EQUAL(writable_bytes.size(), sizeof(data));
 
     }