In operations.cpp, in the dir_itr_first function, there is a static std::string called dummy_first_name. If the user attempts directory iteration from the destructor of a global object, it fails because at that time the static std::string is already destroyed: BOOST_FILESYSTEM_DECL boost::filesystem::system_error_type dir_itr_first( void *& handle, void *& buffer, const std::string & dir, std::string & target, file_status &, file_status & ) { static const std::string dummy_first_name( "." ); if ( (handle = ::opendir( dir.c_str() )) == 0 ) return errno; target = dummy_first_name; std::size_t path_size; fs::system_error_type ec = path_max( path_size ); if ( ec ) return ec; dirent de; buffer = std::malloc( (sizeof(dirent) - sizeof(de.d_name)) + path_size + 1 ); // + 1 for "/0" return buffer == 0 ? ENOMEM : 0; } Emil Dotchevski