diff --git a/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp b/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
index 6f9f0ba68d..10111e562a 100644
--- a/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
+++ b/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
@@ -224,7 +224,10 @@ wxDateTime
 ParseFormatAt(wxString::const_iterator& p,
               const wxString::const_iterator& end,
               const wxString& fmt,
-              const wxString& fmtAlt = wxString(),
+              // FIXME-VC6: using wxString() instead of wxEmptyString in the
+              //            line below results in error C2062: type 'class
+              //            wxString (__cdecl *)(void)' unexpected
+              const wxString& fmtAlt = wxEmptyString,
               const wxString& fmtAlt2 = wxString())
 {
     const wxString str(p, end);