https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=77875
Jonathan Wakely <redi at gcc dot gnu.org> changed: What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keywords| |rejects-valid Status|UNCONFIRMED |NEW Last reconfirmed| |2019-03-27 Ever confirmed|0 |1 --- Comment #2 from Jonathan Wakely <redi at gcc dot gnu.org> --- From PR 89857: gcc doesn't compile the following well-formed program: void foo () { using T = int&; int i{}; T{i}; } $ g++ -std=c++17 -c gcc_bug2.cpp gcc_bug2.cpp: In function ‘void foo()’: gcc_bug2.cpp:4:8: error: invalid cast of an rvalue expression of type ‘int’ to type ‘T’ {aka ‘int&’} T{i}; Quoting from the standard draft: http://eel.is/c++draft/dcl.init.list#3.9 Otherwise, if the initializer list has a single element of type E and either T is not a reference type or its referenced type is reference-related to E, the object or reference is initialized from that element (by copy-initialization for copy-list-initialization, or by direct-initialization for direct-list-initialization); if a narrowing conversion (see below) is required to convert the element to T, the program is ill-formed. According to the error, it looks like gcc skips this and tries to apply the next rule: Otherwise, if T is a reference type, a prvalue of the type referenced by T is generated. The prvalue initializes its result object by copy-list-initialization. The prvalue is then used to direct-initialize the reference. [ Note: As usual, the binding will fail and the program is ill-formed if the reference type is an lvalue reference to a non-const type. — end note ] Note: The current behavior was originally a defect in the C++11 standard that was corrected in CWG1288. http://open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG21/docs/cwg_defects.html#1288