diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.cc b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.cc
index 63984b45..52b86075 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.cc
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.cc
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ void _PLYWriter_::write_customProp(std::ostream& _out, const CustomProperty& _pr
 
 
 
-void _PLYWriter_::write_header(std::ostream& _out, const BaseExporter& _be, Options& _opt, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ovProps, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ofProps) const {
+void _PLYWriter_::write_header(std::ostream& _out, BaseExporter& _be, Options& _opt, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ovProps, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ofProps) const {
   //writing header
   _out << "ply" << '\n';
 
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.hh
index c081162e..67cc310c 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/writer/PLYWriter.hh
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ protected:
   bool write_ascii(std::ostream& _out, BaseExporter&, Options) const;
   bool write_binary(std::ostream& _out, BaseExporter&, Options) const;
   /// write header into the stream _out. Returns custom properties (vertex and face) which are written into the header
-  void write_header(std::ostream& _out, const BaseExporter& _be, Options& _opt, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ovProps, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ofProps) const;
+  void write_header(std::ostream& _out, BaseExporter& _be, Options& _opt, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ovProps, std::vector<CustomProperty>& _ofProps) const;
 };