diff --git a/Examples/test-suite/ruby/swig_assert.rb b/Examples/test-suite/ruby/swig_assert.rb
index a941fc13b..f2bcec766 100755
--- a/Examples/test-suite/ruby/swig_assert.rb
+++ b/Examples/test-suite/ruby/swig_assert.rb
@@ -8,19 +8,30 @@
 #
 
 
+#
+# Exception raised when some swig binding test fails
+#
 class SwigRubyError < RuntimeError
 end
 
-class SwigAssertError < StandardError
-end
-
 
+#
+# Asserts whether a and b are equal.
+#
+# scope - optional Binding where to run the code
+# msg   - optional additional message to print
+#
 def swig_assert_equal( a, b, scope = nil, msg = nil )
   begin
     check = "#{a} == #{b}"
-    ok = eval(check, scope)
+    if scope.kind_of? Binding
+      ok = eval(check.to_s, scope)
+    else
+      ok = eval(check.to_s)
+      msg = scope if !msg
+    end
   rescue => e
-    raise SwigAssertError.new("Wrong assert: #{check} - #{e}")
+    raise
   end
 
   unless ok
@@ -42,19 +53,25 @@ rescue => e
 end
 
 
-def swig_assert( condition, scope = nil, msg = nil )
+#
+# Asserts whether an expression runs properly
+#
+# scope - optional Binding where to run the code
+# msg   - optional additional message to print
+#
+def swig_assert( expr, scope = nil, msg = nil )
   begin
     if scope.kind_of? Binding
-      eval(condition.to_s, scope)
+      eval(expr.to_s, scope)
     else
-      eval(condition.to_s)
-      msg = scope
+      eval(expr.to_s)
+      msg = scope if !msg
     end
   rescue => e
-    raise SwigAssertError.new("Wrong assert: #{condition.to_s} - #{e}")
+    raise SwigRubyError.new("Wrong assert: #{expr.to_s} - #{e}")
   end
   if $VERBOSE
-    $stdout.puts "\tPASSED #{condition} #{msg}"
+    $stdout.puts "\tPASSED #{expr} #{msg}"
   end
 rescue => e
   trace = e.backtrace[1..-1]
@@ -66,6 +83,15 @@ rescue => e
 end
 
 
+#
+# Given a set of lines as text, runs each of them, asserting them.
+# Lines that are of the form:
+#     a == b  are run with swig_assert_equal
+#             others are run with swig_assert.
+#
+# scope - optional Binding where to run the code
+# msg   - optional additional message to print
+#
 def swig_assert_each_line( lines, scope = nil, msg = nil )
   lines.split("\n").each do |line|
     next if line.empty? or line =~ /^\s*#.*/
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg b/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
index 2fc372732..d572267fc 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
@@ -53,11 +53,6 @@
  * ------------------------------------------------------------ */
 %include <rubyopers.swg>
 
-/* ------------------------------------------------------------
- * The Ruby classes, for C++
- * ------------------------------------------------------------ */
-%include <rubyclasses.swg>
-
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------
  * Warnings for Ruby keywords 
  * ------------------------------------------------------------ */
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg b/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg
index d45f662e0..142b407bf 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg
@@ -41,10 +41,12 @@ namespace swig {
     VALUE to_s() const;
   };
 
+  %exception GC_VALUE {};
+
   %apply VALUE   {GC_VALUE};
 
   /* For input */
-   %typemap(in,noblock=1) GC_VALUE* (GC_VALUE r), GC_VALUE& (GC_VALUE r)  {
+  %typemap(in,noblock=1) GC_VALUE* (GC_VALUE r), GC_VALUE& (GC_VALUE r)  {
      r = $input; $1 = &r;
    }
 
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/rubystdcommon.swg b/Lib/ruby/rubystdcommon.swg
index 552926029..e7fd461e6 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/rubystdcommon.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/rubystdcommon.swg
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+
+/* ------------------------------------------------------------
+ * The Ruby classes, for C++
+ * ------------------------------------------------------------ */
+%include <rubyclasses.swg>
+
 %fragment("StdTraits","header",fragment="StdTraitsCommon")
 {