diff --git a/include/wx/msw/private.h b/include/wx/msw/private.h
index c02ee410a2..cd49453c58 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/private.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/private.h
@@ -972,6 +972,10 @@ enum wxWinVersion
 
 WXDLLIMPEXP_BASE wxWinVersion wxGetWinVersion();
 
+// This is similar to wxSysErrorMsgStr(), but takes an extra HMODULE parameter
+// specific to wxMSW.
+WXDLLIMPEXP_BASE wxString wxMSWFormatMessage(DWORD nErrCode, HMODULE hModule = 0);
+
 #if wxUSE_GUI && defined(__WXMSW__)
 
 // cursor stuff
diff --git a/src/common/log.cpp b/src/common/log.cpp
index 8c99a88277..f56c912dc7 100644
--- a/src/common/log.cpp
+++ b/src/common/log.cpp
@@ -1056,19 +1056,22 @@ unsigned long wxSysErrorCode()
 #endif  //Win/Unix
 }
 
-wxString wxSysErrorMsgStr(unsigned long nErrCode)
-{
-    if ( nErrCode == 0 )
-        nErrCode = wxSysErrorCode();
-
 #if defined(__WINDOWS__)
+
+wxString wxMSWFormatMessage(DWORD nErrCode, HMODULE hModule)
+{
+    DWORD flags = FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
+                  FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
+                  FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS;
+    if ( hModule )
+        flags |= FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_HMODULE;
+
     // get error message from system
     LPVOID lpMsgBuf;
     if ( ::FormatMessage
          (
-            FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
-            FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
-            NULL,
+            flags,
+            hModule,
             nErrCode,
             MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
             (LPTSTR)&lpMsgBuf,
@@ -1103,6 +1106,17 @@ wxString wxSysErrorMsgStr(unsigned long nErrCode)
     }
 
     return str;
+}
+
+#endif // __WINDOWS__
+
+wxString wxSysErrorMsgStr(unsigned long nErrCode)
+{
+    if ( nErrCode == 0 )
+        nErrCode = wxSysErrorCode();
+
+#if defined(__WINDOWS__)
+    return wxMSWFormatMessage(nErrCode);
 #else // !__WINDOWS__
         char buffer[1024];
         char *errorMsg = buffer;
diff --git a/src/msw/crashrpt.cpp b/src/msw/crashrpt.cpp
index 437f6634b2..02b23db2d3 100644
--- a/src/msw/crashrpt.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/crashrpt.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include "wx/msw/debughlp.h"
 #include "wx/msw/crashrpt.h"
+#include "wx/msw/private.h"
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // classes
@@ -356,20 +357,7 @@ wxString wxCrashContext::GetExceptionString() const
 
         default:
             // unknown exception, ask NTDLL for the name
-            if ( !::FormatMessage
-                    (
-                     FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |
-                     FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_HMODULE,
-                     ::GetModuleHandle(wxT("NTDLL.DLL")),
-                     code,
-                     0,
-                     wxStringBuffer(s, 1024),
-                     1024,
-                     0
-                    ) )
-            {
-                s.Printf(wxT("UNKNOWN_EXCEPTION(%d)"), code);
-            }
+            s = wxMSWFormatMessage(code, ::GetModuleHandle(wxT("NTDLL.DLL")));
     }
 
     #undef CASE_EXCEPTION
diff --git a/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp b/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
index a56ce2c585..bba759a2b7 100644
--- a/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 #include "wx/mstream.h"
 #include "wx/uri.h"
+#include "wx/msw/private.h"
 #include "wx/msw/private/webrequest_winhttp.h"
 
 #ifndef WX_PRECOMP
@@ -59,31 +60,6 @@
 
 // Helper functions
 
-static wxString wxWinHTTPErrorToString(DWORD errorCode)
-{
-    wxString errorString;
-
-    LPVOID msgBuf;
-    if ( FormatMessageW(
-        FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
-        FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
-        FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |
-        FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_HMODULE,
-        GetModuleHandle(TEXT("WINHTTP")),
-        errorCode,
-        MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
-        (LPWSTR)&msgBuf,
-        0, NULL) )
-    {
-        errorString.assign((LPWSTR)msgBuf);
-        LocalFree(msgBuf);
-        // Truncate trailing \n\r
-        if ( errorString.size() > 2 )
-            errorString.resize(errorString.size());
-    }
-    return errorString;
-}
-
 static wxString wxWinHTTPQueryHeaderString(HINTERNET hRequest, DWORD dwInfoLevel,
     LPCWSTR pwszName = WINHTTP_HEADER_NAME_BY_INDEX)
 {
@@ -254,7 +230,8 @@ void wxWebRequestWinHTTP::CreateResponse()
 
 void wxWebRequestWinHTTP::SetFailed(DWORD errorCode)
 {
-    wxString failMessage = wxWinHTTPErrorToString(errorCode);
+    wxString failMessage = wxMSWFormatMessage(errorCode,
+                                              GetModuleHandle(TEXT("WINHTTP")));
     SetState(wxWebRequest::State_Failed, failMessage);
 }