diff --git a/traits.hpp b/traits.hpp
index 8665470..858b6dc 100644
--- a/traits.hpp
+++ b/traits.hpp
@@ -138,67 +138,69 @@ namespace cruft::vk {
     /// XXX: if such a function does not exist anywhere then we currently use
     /// tuple::ignore to simplify implementation elsewhere. we should probably
     /// investigate std::is_detected for these cases though.
+    ///
+    /// clang#18781: we make use of references types extensively here to
+    /// workaround a potential ODR bug in clang which results in undefined
+    /// references.
+    /// or potentially i'm being too clever for my own good, but it works fine
+    /// in gcc...
     template <typename>
     struct life_traits { };
 
 
     //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     template <> struct life_traits<instance> {
-        static constexpr auto create  = vkCreateInstance;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyInstance;
+        static constexpr auto& create  = vkCreateInstance;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyInstance;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<device> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateDevice;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyDevice;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateDevice;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyDevice;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<command_pool> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateCommandPool;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyCommandPool;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateCommandPool;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyCommandPool;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<fence> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateFence;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyFence;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateFence;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyFence;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<semaphore> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateSemaphore;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroySemaphore;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateSemaphore;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroySemaphore;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<event> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateEvent;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyEvent;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateEvent;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyEvent;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<render_pass> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateRenderPass;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyRenderPass;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateRenderPass;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyRenderPass;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<framebuffer> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateFramebuffer;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyFramebuffer;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateFramebuffer;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyFramebuffer;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<shader_module> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateShaderModule;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyShaderModule;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateShaderModule;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyShaderModule;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<surface> {
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroySurfaceKHR;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroySurfaceKHR;
     };
 
     template <>
     struct life_traits<queue> {
-        // clang#18781: we work around an ODR bug in clang which causes
-        // undefined references by explicitly using a temporary here. ideally
-        // this causes minimal difference in the generated output.
-        using create_t = decltype(vkGetDeviceQueue);
-        static constexpr create_t& create = vkGetDeviceQueue;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkGetDeviceQueue;
 
         static constexpr auto destroy = ::util::tuple::ignore<
             id_t<owner_t<queue>>,
@@ -225,22 +227,22 @@ namespace cruft::vk {
     //};
 
     template <> struct life_traits<pipeline_cache> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreatePipelineCache;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyPipelineCache;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreatePipelineCache;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyPipelineCache;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<device_memory> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkAllocateMemory;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkFreeMemory;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkAllocateMemory;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkFreeMemory;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<buffer> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateBuffer;
-        static constexpr auto destroy = vkDestroyBuffer;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateBuffer;
+        static constexpr auto& destroy = vkDestroyBuffer;
     };
 
     template <> struct life_traits<buffer_view> {
-        static constexpr auto create = vkCreateBufferView;
+        static constexpr auto& create = vkCreateBufferView;
     };