diff --git a/src/common/arrstr.cpp b/src/common/arrstr.cpp
index 5a995d86c1..ccc25f23ab 100644
--- a/src/common/arrstr.cpp
+++ b/src/common/arrstr.cpp
@@ -490,11 +490,11 @@ bool wxArrayString::operator==(const wxArrayString& a) const
 
 wxString wxJoin(const wxArrayString& arr, const wxChar sep, const wxChar escape)
 {
+    wxString str;
+
     size_t count = arr.size();
     if ( count == 0 )
-        return wxEmptyString;
-
-    wxString str;
+        return str;
 
     // pre-allocate memory using the estimation of the average length of the
     // strings in the given array: this is very imprecise, of course, but
diff --git a/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp b/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
index 0d2bb3498b..8fbf1e0034 100644
--- a/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
+++ b/src/common/datetimefmt.cpp
@@ -2247,18 +2247,20 @@ enum TimeSpanPart
 //  %l          milliseconds (000 - 999)
 wxString wxTimeSpan::Format(const wxString& format) const
 {
+    wxString str;
+
     // we deal with only positive time spans here and just add the sign in
     // front for the negative ones
     if ( IsNegative() )
     {
-        wxString str(Negate().Format(format));
-        return "-" + str;
+        str = "-";
+        str << Negate().Format(format);
+        return str;
     }
 
-    wxCHECK_MSG( !format.empty(), wxEmptyString,
+    wxCHECK_MSG( !format.empty(), str,
                  wxT("NULL format in wxTimeSpan::Format") );
 
-    wxString str;
     str.Alloc(format.length());
 
     // Suppose we have wxTimeSpan ts(1 /* hour */, 2 /* min */, 3 /* sec */)
diff --git a/src/common/fontcmn.cpp b/src/common/fontcmn.cpp
index da8e05d239..ae9b82607f 100644
--- a/src/common/fontcmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/fontcmn.cpp
@@ -318,9 +318,10 @@ void wxFontBase::DoSetNativeFontInfo(const wxNativeFontInfo& info)
 
 wxString wxFontBase::GetNativeFontInfoDesc() const
 {
-    wxCHECK_MSG( IsOk(), wxEmptyString, wxT("invalid font") );
-
     wxString fontDesc;
+
+    wxCHECK_MSG(IsOk(), fontDesc, "invalid font");
+
     const wxNativeFontInfo *fontInfo = GetNativeFontInfo();
     if ( fontInfo )
     {
@@ -337,9 +338,10 @@ wxString wxFontBase::GetNativeFontInfoDesc() const
 
 wxString wxFontBase::GetNativeFontInfoUserDesc() const
 {
-    wxCHECK_MSG( IsOk(), wxEmptyString, wxT("invalid font") );
-
     wxString fontDesc;
+
+    wxCHECK_MSG(IsOk(), fontDesc, "invalid font");
+
     const wxNativeFontInfo *fontInfo = GetNativeFontInfo();
     if ( fontInfo )
     {
diff --git a/src/common/intl.cpp b/src/common/intl.cpp
index df4c840a84..98140e22a7 100644
--- a/src/common/intl.cpp
+++ b/src/common/intl.cpp
@@ -976,27 +976,31 @@ const wxLanguageInfo *wxLocale::GetLanguageInfo(int lang)
 /* static */
 wxString wxLocale::GetLanguageName(int lang)
 {
+    wxString string;
+
     if ( lang == wxLANGUAGE_DEFAULT || lang == wxLANGUAGE_UNKNOWN )
-        return wxEmptyString;
+        return string;
 
     const wxLanguageInfo *info = GetLanguageInfo(lang);
-    if ( !info )
-        return wxEmptyString;
-    else
-        return info->Description;
+    if (info)
+        string = info->Description;
+
+    return string;
 }
 
 /* static */
 wxString wxLocale::GetLanguageCanonicalName(int lang)
 {
+    wxString string;
+
     if ( lang == wxLANGUAGE_DEFAULT || lang == wxLANGUAGE_UNKNOWN )
-        return wxEmptyString;
+        return string;
 
     const wxLanguageInfo *info = GetLanguageInfo(lang);
-    if ( !info )
-        return wxEmptyString;
-    else
-        return info->CanonicalName;
+    if (info)
+        string = info->CanonicalName;
+
+    return string;
 }
 
 /* static */
diff --git a/src/common/platinfo.cpp b/src/common/platinfo.cpp
index f9d9b93aef..8de37f6e07 100644
--- a/src/common/platinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/common/platinfo.cpp
@@ -259,12 +259,14 @@ wxString wxPlatformInfo::GetOperatingSystemIdName(wxOperatingSystemId os)
 
 wxString wxPlatformInfo::GetPortIdName(wxPortId port, bool usingUniversal)
 {
+    wxString ret;
+
     const unsigned idx = wxGetIndexFromEnumValue(port);
 
-    wxCHECK_MSG( idx < WXSIZEOF(wxPortIdNames), wxEmptyString,
+    wxCHECK_MSG( idx < WXSIZEOF(wxPortIdNames), ret,
                  wxT("invalid port id") );
 
-    wxString ret = wxPortIdNames[idx];
+    ret = wxPortIdNames[idx];
 
     if ( usingUniversal )
         ret += wxT("/wxUniversal");
@@ -274,12 +276,14 @@ wxString wxPlatformInfo::GetPortIdName(wxPortId port, bool usingUniversal)
 
 wxString wxPlatformInfo::GetPortIdShortName(wxPortId port, bool usingUniversal)
 {
+    wxString ret;
+
     const unsigned idx = wxGetIndexFromEnumValue(port);
 
-    wxCHECK_MSG( idx < WXSIZEOF(wxPortIdNames), wxEmptyString,
+    wxCHECK_MSG( idx < WXSIZEOF(wxPortIdNames), ret,
                  wxT("invalid port id") );
 
-    wxString ret = wxPortIdNames[idx];
+    ret = wxPortIdNames[idx];
     ret = ret.Mid(2).Lower();       // remove 'wx' prefix
 
     if ( usingUniversal )
diff --git a/src/common/string.cpp b/src/common/string.cpp
index feb6d8e501..f741eb536e 100644
--- a/src/common/string.cpp
+++ b/src/common/string.cpp
@@ -1160,11 +1160,11 @@ int wxString::CmpNoCase(const wxString& s) const
 
 wxString wxString::FromAscii(const char *ascii, size_t len)
 {
-    if (!ascii || len == 0)
-       return wxEmptyString;
-
     wxString res;
 
+    if (!ascii || len == 0)
+       return res;
+
     {
         wxStringInternalBuffer buf(res, len);
         wxStringCharType *dest = buf;
diff --git a/src/common/variant.cpp b/src/common/variant.cpp
index e01d1e84f7..e11e43dfe6 100644
--- a/src/common/variant.cpp
+++ b/src/common/variant.cpp
@@ -139,13 +139,10 @@ bool wxVariant::operator!= (const wxVariant& variant) const
 
 wxString wxVariant::MakeString() const
 {
+    wxString str;
     if (!IsNull())
-    {
-        wxString str;
-        if (GetData()->Write(str))
-            return str;
-    }
-    return wxEmptyString;
+        GetData()->Write(str);
+    return str;
 }
 
 void wxVariant::SetData(wxVariantData* data)
diff --git a/src/common/xti.cpp b/src/common/xti.cpp
index e7dc6d1ee0..9be5507fea 100644
--- a/src/common/xti.cpp
+++ b/src/common/xti.cpp
@@ -946,10 +946,11 @@ void wxGenericPropertyAccessor::GetProperty(const wxObject *object, wxAny& value
 
 wxString wxAnyGetAsString( const wxAny& data)
 {
-    if ( data.IsNull() || data.GetTypeInfo()==NULL )
-        return wxEmptyString;
-
     wxString s;
+
+    if ( data.IsNull() || data.GetTypeInfo()==NULL )
+        return s;
+
     data.GetTypeInfo()->ConvertToString(data,s);
     return s;
 }