diff --git a/src/corelib/tools/qbytearraylist.h b/src/corelib/tools/qbytearraylist.h
index 9cd241a87b..f8539ca07a 100644
--- a/src/corelib/tools/qbytearraylist.h
+++ b/src/corelib/tools/qbytearraylist.h
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ class QByteArrayList : public QList<QByteArray>
 template <> struct QListSpecialMethods<QByteArray>
 #endif
 {
+#ifndef Q_QDOC
+protected:
+    ~QListSpecialMethods() {}
+#endif
 public:
     inline QByteArray join() const
     { return QtPrivate::QByteArrayList_join(self(), 0, 0); }
diff --git a/src/corelib/tools/qlist.h b/src/corelib/tools/qlist.h
index 57e67d52d7..f5ff952f97 100644
--- a/src/corelib/tools/qlist.h
+++ b/src/corelib/tools/qlist.h
@@ -62,8 +62,13 @@ QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 template <typename T> class QVector;
 template <typename T> class QSet;
 
-template <typename T> struct QListSpecialMethods { };
+template <typename T> struct QListSpecialMethods
+{
+protected:
+    ~QListSpecialMethods() {}
+};
 template <> struct QListSpecialMethods<QByteArray>;
+template <> struct QListSpecialMethods<QString>;
 
 struct Q_CORE_EXPORT QListData {
     // tags for tag-dispatching of QList implementations,
diff --git a/src/corelib/tools/qstringlist.h b/src/corelib/tools/qstringlist.h
index 89785208c8..8288e430fa 100644
--- a/src/corelib/tools/qstringlist.h
+++ b/src/corelib/tools/qstringlist.h
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ class QStringList : public QList<QString>
 template <> struct QListSpecialMethods<QString>
 #endif
 {
+#ifndef Q_QDOC
+protected:
+    ~QListSpecialMethods() {}
+#endif
 public:
     inline void sort(Qt::CaseSensitivity cs = Qt::CaseSensitive);
     inline int removeDuplicates();