diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression-inl.h b/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression-inl.h
index d6dc5088d..48445bba5 100644
--- a/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression-inl.h
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression-inl.h
@@ -561,8 +561,8 @@ struct GenerateFunctionalNode: Argument<T, A, Base::N + 1>, Base {
 
     /// Given df/dT, multiply in dT/dA and continue reverse AD process
     // Cols is always known at compile time
-    template<int Rows, int Cols>
-    void reverseAD4(const Eigen::Matrix<double, Rows, Cols> & dFdT,
+    template<typename SomeMatrix>
+    void reverseAD4(const SomeMatrix & dFdT,
         JacobianMap& jacobians) const {
       Base::Record::reverseAD4(dFdT, jacobians);
       This::trace.reverseAD1(dFdT * This::dTdA, jacobians);
diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression.h b/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression.h
index 498e865b9..e63fbc686 100644
--- a/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression.h
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/Expression.h
@@ -206,10 +206,24 @@ private:
     // with an execution trace, made up entirely of "Record" structs, see
     // the FunctionalNode class in expression-inl.h
     size_t size = traceSize();
+
+    // Windows does not support variable length arrays, so memory must be dynamically
+    // allocated on Visual Studio. For more information see the issue below
+    // https://bitbucket.org/gtborg/gtsam/issue/178/vlas-unsupported-in-visual-studio
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+    ExecutionTraceStorage* traceStorage = new ExecutionTraceStorage[size];
+#else
     ExecutionTraceStorage traceStorage[size];
+#endif
+
     ExecutionTrace<T> trace;
     T value(traceExecution(values, trace, traceStorage));
     trace.startReverseAD1(jacobians);
+
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+    delete[] traceStorage;
+#endif
+
     return value;
   }
 
diff --git a/gtsam_unstable/nonlinear/expressions.h b/gtsam_unstable/nonlinear/expressions.h
index 2490100d6..18d0d5d8f 100644
--- a/gtsam_unstable/nonlinear/expressions.h
+++ b/gtsam_unstable/nonlinear/expressions.h
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@
 namespace gtsam {
 
 // Generics
-
-template<class T>
+template<typename T>
 Expression<T> between(const Expression<T>& t1, const Expression<T>& t2) {
   return Expression<T>(t1, &T::between, t2);
 }
diff --git a/gtsam_unstable/slam/expressions.h b/gtsam_unstable/slam/expressions.h
index 031baea3d..7badc9dd7 100644
--- a/gtsam_unstable/slam/expressions.h
+++ b/gtsam_unstable/slam/expressions.h
@@ -20,10 +20,7 @@ typedef Expression<Rot2> Rot2_;
 typedef Expression<Pose2> Pose2_;
 
 Point2_ transform_to(const Pose2_& x, const Point2_& p) {
-  Point2 (Pose2::*transform)(const Point2& p, OptionalJacobian<2, 3> H1,
-      OptionalJacobian<2, 2> H2) const = &Pose2::transform_to;
-
-  return Point2_(x, transform, p);
+  return Point2_(x, &Pose2::transform_to, p);
 }
 
 // 3D Geometry
@@ -33,11 +30,7 @@ typedef Expression<Rot3> Rot3_;
 typedef Expression<Pose3> Pose3_;
 
 Point3_ transform_to(const Pose3_& x, const Point3_& p) {
-
-  Point3 (Pose3::*transform)(const Point3& p, OptionalJacobian<3, 6> Dpose,
-      OptionalJacobian<3, 3> Dpoint) const = &Pose3::transform_to;
-
-  return Point3_(x, transform, p);
+  return Point3_(x, &Pose3::transform_to, p);
 }
 
 // Projection