diff --git a/roofit/roostats/inc/SamplingDistribution.h b/roofit/roostats/inc/SamplingDistribution.h
index 1d2af4facdd43cf90298cab3d6668fc7434e3608..6e4c9184ae841f72cdf9601b2fd199b46ee925dc 100644
--- a/roofit/roostats/inc/SamplingDistribution.h
+++ b/roofit/roostats/inc/SamplingDistribution.h
@@ -34,14 +34,14 @@ namespace RooStats {
    public:
 
     // Constructor for SamplingDistribution
-    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, const TString varName = "");
+    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, const char * varName = 0);
     SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title,
-			 std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, std::vector<Double_t>& sampleWeights, const TString varName = "");
+			 std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, std::vector<Double_t>& sampleWeights, const char * varName = 0);
 
 
-    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, const TString varName = "");
+    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, const char * varName = 0);
 
-    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, RooDataSet& dataSet, const TString varName = 0);
+    SamplingDistribution(const char *name,const char *title, RooDataSet& dataSet, const char * varName = 0);
 
     // Default constructor for SamplingDistribution
     SamplingDistribution();
diff --git a/roofit/roostats/src/SamplingDistribution.cxx b/roofit/roostats/src/SamplingDistribution.cxx
index a4099e13e0ad657c1792577fdae0f32165cdc9e7..c8b1deee29893686000cc314210cd3816446feb0 100644
--- a/roofit/roostats/src/SamplingDistribution.cxx
+++ b/roofit/roostats/src/SamplingDistribution.cxx
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ using namespace RooStats;
 
 //_______________________________________________________
 SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title,
-					    std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, const TString varName) :
+					    std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, const char * varName) :
   TNamed(name,title)
 {
   // SamplingDistribution constructor
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title,
 
 //_______________________________________________________
 SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title,
-					    std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, std::vector<Double_t>& sampleWeights, const TString varName) :
+					    std::vector<Double_t>& samplingDist, std::vector<Double_t>& sampleWeights, const char * varName) :
   TNamed(name,title)
 {
   // SamplingDistribution constructor
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title,
 }
 
 //_______________________________________________________
-SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title, const TString varName) :
+SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution( const char *name, const char *title, const char * varName) :
   TNamed(name,title)
 {
    // SamplingDistribution constructor (with name and title)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ SamplingDistribution::SamplingDistribution(
    const char *name,
    const char *title,
    RooDataSet& dataSet,
-   const TString varName
+   const char * varName
 ) : TNamed(name, title) {
    // Creates a SamplingDistribution from a RooDataSet for debugging
    // purposes; e.g. if you need a Gaussian type SamplingDistribution