diff --git a/src/modelchecker/reachability/SparseSccModelChecker.cpp b/src/modelchecker/reachability/SparseSccModelChecker.cpp
index 3911f1a6f..7aae3f0b4 100644
--- a/src/modelchecker/reachability/SparseSccModelChecker.cpp
+++ b/src/modelchecker/reachability/SparseSccModelChecker.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ namespace storm {
                     }
                 }
                 
+                // Make sure that we have eliminated all transitions from the initial state.
+                STORM_LOG_ASSERT(flexibleMatrix.getRow(*initialStates.begin()).empty(), "The transitions of the initial states are non-empty.");
+                
                 auto modelCheckingEnd = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
                 auto totalTimeEnd = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
                 
@@ -127,6 +130,7 @@ namespace storm {
                 storm::storage::SparseMatrix<ValueType> submatrix = dtmc.getTransitionMatrix().getSubmatrix(false, maybeStates, maybeStates);
                 
                 // To be able to apply heuristics later, we now determine the distance of each state to the initial state.
+                // We start by setting up the data structures.
                 std::vector<std::pair<storm::storage::sparse::state_type, std::size_t>> stateQueue;
                 stateQueue.reserve(submatrix.getRowCount());
                 storm::storage::BitVector statesInQueue(submatrix.getRowCount());
@@ -138,7 +142,7 @@ namespace storm {
                     statesInQueue.set(initialState);
                 }
                 
-                // Perform a BFS.
+                // And then perform the BFS.
                 while (currentPosition < stateQueue.size()) {
                     std::pair<storm::storage::sparse::state_type, std::size_t> const& stateDistancePair = stateQueue[currentPosition];
                     distances[stateDistancePair.first] = stateDistancePair.second;
diff --git a/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.cpp b/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.cpp
index 71d2bb165..c83ee9583 100644
--- a/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.cpp
+++ b/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.cpp
@@ -21,17 +21,10 @@ namespace storm {
         }
         
         template<typename ValueType>
-        ValueType& simplify(ValueType& value) {
+        ValueType simplify(ValueType value) {
             // In the general case, we don't to anything here, but merely return the value. If something else is
             // supposed to happen here, the templated function can be specialized for this particular type.
-            return value;
-        }
-
-        template<typename ValueType>
-        ValueType&& simplify(ValueType&& value) {
-            // In the general case, we don't to anything here, but merely return the value. If something else is
-            // supposed to happen here, the templated function can be specialized for this particular type.
-            return std::move(value);
+            return std::forward<ValueType>(value);
         }
 
         template<typename ValueType>
diff --git a/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.h b/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.h
index 6bc668445..37e27ea46 100644
--- a/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.h
+++ b/src/utility/ConstantsComparator.h
@@ -28,10 +28,7 @@ namespace storm {
         ValueType infinity();
         
         template<typename ValueType>
-        ValueType& simplify(ValueType& value);
-
-        template<typename ValueType>
-        ValueType&& simplify(ValueType&& value);
+        ValueType simplify(ValueType value);
 
         // A class that can be used for comparing constants.
         template<typename ValueType>