diff --git a/source/greeter.cpp b/source/greeter.cpp
index 6aa9679..f7c02ce 100644
--- a/source/greeter.cpp
+++ b/source/greeter.cpp
@@ -1,11 +1,20 @@
 #include <greeter.h>
 
+#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
+// apparently this is required to concat strings
+#  include <sstream>
+#endif
+
 using namespace greeter;
 
 Greeter::Greeter(std::string _name) : name(_name) {}
 
 std::string Greeter::greet(LanguageCode lang) const {
   switch (lang) {
+#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
+    // this silences MSVC as it does not seem to understand strongly-typed enums
+    default:
+#endif
     case LanguageCode::EN:
       return "Hello, " + name + "!";
     case LanguageCode::DE:
@@ -13,10 +22,6 @@ std::string Greeter::greet(LanguageCode lang) const {
     case LanguageCode::ES:
       return "¡Hola " + name + "!";
     case LanguageCode::FR:
-#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
-    // this silences a warning as MSVC does not seem to understand strongly-typed enums
-    default:
-#endif
       return "Bonjour " + name + "!";
   }
 }