diff --git a/src/common/bit_vector.hpp b/src/common/bit_vector.hpp
index 83d49d3ace7..55403c5d35c 100644
--- a/src/common/bit_vector.hpp
+++ b/src/common/bit_vector.hpp
@@ -200,9 +200,7 @@ void BitVector<_b>::encode_data(bufferlist& bl, uint64_t byte_offset,
 
     bufferlist bit;
     bit.substr_of(m_data, byte_offset, len);
-    m_data_crcs[byte_offset / CEPH_PAGE_SIZE] =
-      ceph_crc32c(0, reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(bit.c_str()),
-		  bit.length());
+    m_data_crcs[byte_offset / CEPH_PAGE_SIZE] = bit.crc32c(0);
 
     bl.claim_append(bit);
     byte_offset += CEPH_PAGE_SIZE;
@@ -388,11 +386,10 @@ typename BitVector<_b>::Reference& BitVector<_b>::Reference::operator=(uint8_t v
   uint64_t shift;
   this->m_bit_vector.compute_index(this->m_offset, &index, &shift);
 
-  // TODO: find out why bufferlist doesn't support char& operator[]()
   uint8_t mask = MASK << shift;
-  char* packed_data = this->m_bit_vector.m_data.c_str();
-  uint8_t packed_value = (packed_data[index] & ~mask) | ((v << shift) & mask);
-  packed_data[index] = packed_value;
+  char packed_value = (this->m_bit_vector.m_data[index] & ~mask) |
+		      ((v << shift) & mask);
+  this->m_bit_vector.m_data.copy_in(index, 1, &packed_value);
   return *this;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/test/common/test_bit_vector.cc b/src/test/common/test_bit_vector.cc
index 679b687252a..be31d257f94 100644
--- a/src/test/common/test_bit_vector.cc
+++ b/src/test/common/test_bit_vector.cc
@@ -202,27 +202,30 @@ TYPED_TEST(BitVectorTest, header_crc) {
 }
 
 TYPED_TEST(BitVectorTest, data_crc) {
-  typename TestFixture::bit_vector_t bit_vector;
+  typename TestFixture::bit_vector_t bit_vector1;
+  typename TestFixture::bit_vector_t bit_vector2;
 
-  uint64_t elements_per_byte = 8 / bit_vector.BIT_COUNT;
-  bit_vector.resize((CEPH_PAGE_SIZE + 1) * elements_per_byte);
+  uint64_t elements_per_byte = 8 / bit_vector1.BIT_COUNT;
+  bit_vector1.resize((CEPH_PAGE_SIZE + 1) * elements_per_byte);
+  bit_vector2.resize((CEPH_PAGE_SIZE + 1) * elements_per_byte);
 
   uint64_t byte_offset;
   uint64_t byte_length;
-  bit_vector.get_data_extents(0, bit_vector.size(), &byte_offset, &byte_length);
+  bit_vector1.get_data_extents(0, bit_vector1.size(), &byte_offset,
+			       &byte_length);
 
   bufferlist data;
-  bit_vector.encode_data(data, byte_offset, byte_length);
+  bit_vector1.encode_data(data, byte_offset, byte_length);
 
   bufferlist::iterator data_it = data.begin();
-  bit_vector.decode_data(data_it, byte_offset); 
+  bit_vector1.decode_data(data_it, byte_offset); 
 
-  bit_vector[bit_vector.size() - 1] = 1;
+  bit_vector2[bit_vector2.size() - 1] = 1;
 
   bufferlist dummy_data;
-  bit_vector.encode_data(dummy_data, byte_offset, byte_length);
+  bit_vector2.encode_data(dummy_data, byte_offset, byte_length);
 
   data_it = data.begin();
-  ASSERT_THROW(bit_vector.decode_data(data_it, byte_offset),
+  ASSERT_THROW(bit_vector2.decode_data(data_it, byte_offset),
 	       buffer::malformed_input);
 }