diff --git a/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg b/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
index d572267fc..2fc372732 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/ruby.swg
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@
  * ------------------------------------------------------------ */
 %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 c5da8d648..56fa75e65 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/rubyclasses.swg
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ namespace swig {
   %typemap(out,noblock=1)  GC_VALUE const & {
     $result = (VALUE  )*$1;
   }
-  
+
+  %ignore LANGUAGE_OBJ;
+  typedef GC_VALUE LANGUAGE_OBJ;
 }
 
 %{
@@ -73,20 +75,21 @@ namespace swig {
     
     GC_VALUE & operator=(const GC_VALUE& item) 
     {
+      GC_unregister();
       _obj = item._obj;
-      _obj.GC_register();
+      GC_register();
       return *this;      
     }
 
     void GC_register()
     {
-      if ( obj != Qnil )
+      if ( _obj != Qnil )
 	rb_gc_register_address( &_obj );
     }
 
     void GC_unregister()
     {
-      if ( obj != Qnil )
+      if ( _obj != Qnil )
 	rb_gc_unregister_address( &_obj );
     }
     
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/rubycontainer.swg b/Lib/ruby/rubycontainer.swg
index 9072b2bbb..1b689c704 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/rubycontainer.swg
+++ b/Lib/ruby/rubycontainer.swg
@@ -36,8 +36,36 @@
 
 %include <std_except.i>
 
-
-
+%fragment(SWIG_Traits_frag(swig::GC_VALUE),"header",fragment="StdTraits") {
+namespace swig {
+  template <>  struct traits<GC_VALUE > {
+    typedef value_category category;
+    static const char* type_name() { return "GC_VALUE"; }
+  };
+  
+  template <>  struct traits_from<GC_VALUE> {
+    typedef GC_VALUE value_type;
+    static VALUE from(const value_type& val) {
+      return static_cast<VALUE>(val);
+    }
+  };
+  
+  template <> 
+  struct traits_check<GC_VALUE, value_category> {
+    static bool check(GC_VALUE) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  };
+  
+  template <>  struct traits_asval<GC_VALUE > {   
+    typedef GC_VALUE value_type;
+    static int asval(VALUE obj, value_type *val) {
+      if (val) *val = obj;
+      return SWIG_OK;
+    }
+  };
+} // swig
+} // %fragment(traits for swig::GC_VALUE)
 
 %fragment("RubySequence_Base","header")
 {
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/std_map.i b/Lib/ruby/std_map.i
index a30de684a..ecc78f45b 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/std_map.i
+++ b/Lib/ruby/std_map.i
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     template <class K, class T>
     struct traits_asptr<std::map<K,T> >  {
       typedef std::map<K,T> map_type;
-      static int asptr(PyObject *obj, map_type **val) {
+      static int asptr(VALUE obj, map_type **val) {
 	int res = SWIG_ERROR;
 	if ( TYPE(obj) == T_HASH ) {
 	  static ID id_to_a = rb_intern("to_a");
@@ -144,12 +144,15 @@
 	return Qnil;
     }
     
-    void __delitem__(const key_type& key) {
+    VALUE __delitem__(const key_type& key) {
       Map::iterator i = self->find(key);
-      if (i != self->end())
+      if (i != self->end()) {
 	self->erase(i);
-      else
+	return swig::from( key );
+      }
+      else {
 	return Qnil;
+      }
     }
     
     %rename("has_key?") has_key;
@@ -169,8 +172,9 @@
       }
       VALUE ary = rb_ary_new2(rubysize);
       Map::const_iterator i = self->begin();
-      for (int j = 0; j < rubysize; ++i, ++j) {
-	rb_ary_aset(ary, j, swig::from(i->first));
+      Map::const_iterator e = self->end();
+      for ( ; i != e; ++i ) {
+	rb_ary_push( ary, swig::from(i->first) );
       }
       return ary;
     }
@@ -186,8 +190,9 @@
       }
       VALUE ary = rb_ary_new2(rubysize);
       Map::const_iterator i = self->begin();
-      for (int j = 0; j < rubysize; ++i, ++j) {
-	rb_ary_aset(ary, j, swig::from(i->second));
+      Map::const_iterator e = self->end();
+      for ( ; i != e; ++i ) {
+	rb_ary_push( ary, swig::from(i->second) );
       }
       return ary;
     }
@@ -203,8 +208,9 @@
       }
       VALUE ary = rb_ary_new2(rubysize);
       Map::const_iterator i = self->begin();
-      for (int j = 0; j < rubysize; ++i, ++j) {
-	rb_ary_aset(ary, j, swig::from(*i));
+      Map::const_iterator e = self->end();
+      for ( ; i != e; ++i ) {
+	rb_ary_push( ary, swig::from(*i) );
       }
       return ary;
     }
diff --git a/Lib/ruby/std_multimap.i b/Lib/ruby/std_multimap.i
index 05413316e..a34e5fb07 100644
--- a/Lib/ruby/std_multimap.i
+++ b/Lib/ruby/std_multimap.i
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     template <class K, class T>
     struct traits_asptr<std::multimap<K,T> >  {
       typedef std::multimap<K,T> multimap_type;
-      static int asptr(PyObject *obj, std::multimap<K,T> **val) {
+      static int asptr(VALUE obj, std::multimap<K,T> **val) {
 	int res = SWIG_ERROR;
 	if ( TYPE(obj) == T_HASH ) {
 	  static ID id_to_a = rb_intern("to_a");
@@ -58,7 +58,25 @@
 	  for (const_iterator i= multimap.begin(); i!= multimap.end(); ++i) {
 	    VALUE key = swig::from(i->first);
 	    VALUE val = swig::from(i->second);
-	    rb_hash_aset(obj, key, val);
+
+	    VALUE oldval = rb_hash_aref( obj, key );
+	    if ( oldval == Qnil )
+	      rb_hash_aset(obj, key, val);
+	    else {
+	      // Multiple values for this key, create array if needed
+	      // and add a new element to it.
+	      VALUE ary;
+	      if ( TYPE(oldval) == T_ARRAY )
+		ary = oldval;
+	      else
+		{
+		  ary = rb_ary_new2(2);
+		  rb_ary_push( ary, oldval );
+		  rb_hash_aset( obj, key, ary );
+		}
+	      rb_ary_push( ary, val );
+	    }
+	    
 	  }
 	  return obj;
 	}