diff --git a/configure b/configure
index dde0fd5efe..727221afdb 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -35598,6 +35598,8 @@ if test "$wxUSE_FONTMAP" = "yes" ; then
 fi
 
 if test "$wxUSE_UNICODE" = "yes" ; then
+  CPPFLAGS="-DwxUSE_UNICODE=1 $CPPFLAGS"
+
   $as_echo "#define wxUSE_UNICODE 1" >>confdefs.h
 
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 7ecb037249..b2e72c17be 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -6397,6 +6397,8 @@ if test "$wxUSE_FONTMAP" = "yes" ; then
 fi
 
 if test "$wxUSE_UNICODE" = "yes" ; then
+  CPPFLAGS="-DwxUSE_UNICODE=1 $CPPFLAGS"
+
   AC_DEFINE(wxUSE_UNICODE)
 
   if test "$USE_WIN32" != 1; then