diff --git a/src/gtk/textctrl.cpp b/src/gtk/textctrl.cpp
index d300952a7f..9142eaa632 100644
--- a/src/gtk/textctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/textctrl.cpp
@@ -288,7 +288,11 @@ wxString wxTextCtrl::GetValue() const
     {
         gint len = gtk_text_get_length( GTK_TEXT(m_text) );
         char *text = gtk_editable_get_chars( GTK_EDITABLE(m_text), 0, len );
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
         tmp = wxString(text,*wxConv_current);
+#else
+        tmp = text;
+#endif
         g_free( text );
     }
     else
diff --git a/src/gtk1/textctrl.cpp b/src/gtk1/textctrl.cpp
index d300952a7f..9142eaa632 100644
--- a/src/gtk1/textctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk1/textctrl.cpp
@@ -288,7 +288,11 @@ wxString wxTextCtrl::GetValue() const
     {
         gint len = gtk_text_get_length( GTK_TEXT(m_text) );
         char *text = gtk_editable_get_chars( GTK_EDITABLE(m_text), 0, len );
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
         tmp = wxString(text,*wxConv_current);
+#else
+        tmp = text;
+#endif
         g_free( text );
     }
     else