diff --git a/gtsam/linear/GaussianConditional.cpp b/gtsam/linear/GaussianConditional.cpp
index 93217c027..ed4a6e091 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/GaussianConditional.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/linear/GaussianConditional.cpp
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
     VectorValues result;
     DenseIndex vectorPosition = 0;
     for (const_iterator frontal = beginFrontals(); frontal != endFrontals(); ++frontal) {
-      result.insert(*frontal, solution.segment(vectorPosition, getDim(frontal)));
+      result.emplace(*frontal, solution.segment(vectorPosition, getDim(frontal)));
       vectorPosition += getDim(frontal);
     }
 
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
     VectorValues result;
     DenseIndex vectorPosition = 0;
     for (const_iterator frontal = beginFrontals(); frontal != endFrontals(); ++frontal) {
-      result.insert(*frontal, soln.segment(vectorPosition, getDim(frontal)));
+      result.emplace(*frontal, soln.segment(vectorPosition, getDim(frontal)));
       vectorPosition += getDim(frontal);
     }
 
diff --git a/gtsam/linear/GaussianFactorGraph.cpp b/gtsam/linear/GaussianFactorGraph.cpp
index a4df04cf9..9281c7e7a 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/GaussianFactorGraph.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/linear/GaussianFactorGraph.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
       for (GaussianFactor::const_iterator it = gf->begin(); it != gf->end(); it++) {
         map<Key,size_t>::iterator it2 = spec.find(*it);
         if ( it2 == spec.end() ) {
-          spec.insert(make_pair(*it, gf->getDim(it)));
+          spec.emplace(*it, gf->getDim(it));
         }
       }
     }
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
         if (blocks.count(j))
           blocks[j] += Bj;
         else
-          blocks.insert(make_pair(j,Bj));
+          blocks.emplace(j,Bj);
       }
     }
     return blocks;
diff --git a/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp b/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
index cded6d2ee..da7d7bd7b 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ Matrix HessianFactor::information() const {
 VectorValues HessianFactor::hessianDiagonal() const {
   VectorValues d;
   for (DenseIndex j = 0; j < (DenseIndex)size(); ++j) {
-    d.insert(keys_[j], info_.diagonal(j));
+    d.emplace(keys_[j], info_.diagonal(j));
   }
   return d;
 }
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ VectorValues HessianFactor::gradientAtZero() const {
   VectorValues g;
   size_t n = size();
   for (size_t j = 0; j < n; ++j)
-    g.insert(keys_[j], -info_.aboveDiagonalBlock(j, n));
+    g.emplace(keys_[j], -info_.aboveDiagonalBlock(j, n));
   return g;
 }
 
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ VectorValues HessianFactor::solve() {
   std::size_t offset = 0;
   for (DenseIndex j = 0; j < (DenseIndex)n; ++j) {
     const DenseIndex dim = info_.getDim(j);
-    delta.insert(keys_[j], solution.segment(offset, dim));
+    delta.emplace(keys_[j], solution.segment(offset, dim));
     offset += dim;
   }
 
diff --git a/gtsam/linear/linearAlgorithms-inst.h b/gtsam/linear/linearAlgorithms-inst.h
index ac8c2d7c7..8b83ce0c3 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/linearAlgorithms-inst.h
+++ b/gtsam/linear/linearAlgorithms-inst.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ namespace gtsam
           myData.parentData = parentData;
           // Take any ancestor results we'll need
           for(Key parent: clique->conditional_->parents())
-            myData.cliqueResults.insert(std::make_pair(parent, myData.parentData->cliqueResults.at(parent)));
+            myData.cliqueResults.emplace(parent, myData.parentData->cliqueResults.at(parent));
 
           // Solve and store in our results
           {
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ namespace gtsam
             DenseIndex vectorPosition = 0;
             for(GaussianConditional::const_iterator frontal = c.beginFrontals(); frontal != c.endFrontals(); ++frontal) {
               VectorValues::const_iterator r =
-                collectedResult.insert(*frontal, solution.segment(vectorPosition, c.getDim(frontal)));
-              myData.cliqueResults.insert(make_pair(r->first, r));
+                collectedResult.emplace(*frontal, solution.segment(vectorPosition, c.getDim(frontal)));
+              myData.cliqueResults.emplace(r->first, r);
               vectorPosition += c.getDim(frontal);
             }
           }