diff --git a/include/openmc/tallies/derivative.h b/include/openmc/tallies/derivative.h
index deee9d7aa..3237fb3ba 100644
--- a/include/openmc/tallies/derivative.h
+++ b/include/openmc/tallies/derivative.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ struct TallyDerivative {
   double flux_deriv;  //!< Derivative of the current particle's weight
 
   TallyDerivative() {}
-  TallyDerivative(pugi::xml_node node);
+  explicit TallyDerivative(pugi::xml_node node);
 };
 
 //==============================================================================
diff --git a/src/tallies/derivative.cpp b/src/tallies/derivative.cpp
index b82db28e6..600cd2876 100644
--- a/src/tallies/derivative.cpp
+++ b/src/tallies/derivative.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ read_tally_derivatives(pugi::xml_node* node)
   #pragma omp parallel
   {
     for (auto deriv_node : node->children("derivative"))
-      model::tally_derivs.push_back(deriv_node);
+      model::tally_derivs.emplace_back(deriv_node);
   }
 
   // Fill the derivative map.