diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 95b906bc8b..3c12fe82ef 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -3286,20 +3286,17 @@ AC_CACHE_CHECK(for statfs, wx_cv_func_statfs,
 )
 
 if test "$wx_cv_func_statfs" = "yes"; then
+    wx_cv_type_statvfs_t="struct statfs"
     AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STATFS)
 else
     AC_CACHE_CHECK(for statvfs, wx_cv_func_statvfs,
         AC_TRY_COMPILE(
             [
-                 #include <sys/statvfs.h>
+                #include <stddef.h>
+                #include <sys/statvfs.h>
             ],
             [
-                 long l;
-                 struct statvfs fs;
-                 statvfs("/", &fs);
-                 l = fs.f_bsize;
-                 l += fs.f_blocks;
-                 l += fs.f_bavail;
+                statvfs("/", NULL);
             ],
             [
                  wx_cv_func_statvfs=yes
@@ -3311,12 +3308,73 @@ else
     )
 
     if test "$wx_cv_func_statvfs" = "yes"; then
-        AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STATVFS)
+        dnl we also have to check whether we should use statvfs_t (works under
+        dnl Solaris 8, doesn't work under Solaris 7) or "struct statvfs" (vice
+        dnl versa) as the argument for statvfs in 64 bit off_t mode (in 32 bit
+        dnl mode both work fine)
+        dnl
+        dnl for this check C++ compiler has to be used as passing incompatible
+        dnl pointers is just a warning and not an error in C
+        AC_LANG_SAVE
+        AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS
+
+        AC_CACHE_CHECK(for statvfs argument type, wx_cv_type_statvfs_t,
+            AC_TRY_COMPILE(
+                [
+                    #include <sys/statvfs.h>
+                ],
+                [
+                    long l;
+                    statvfs_t fs;
+                    statvfs("/", &fs);
+                    l = fs.f_bsize;
+                    l += fs.f_blocks;
+                    l += fs.f_bavail;
+                ],
+                [
+                    wx_cv_type_statvfs_t=statvfs_t
+                ],
+                [
+                    AC_TRY_COMPILE(
+                        [
+                            #include <sys/statvfs.h>
+                        ],
+                        [
+                            long l;
+                            struct statvfs fs;
+                            statvfs("/", &fs);
+                            l = fs.f_bsize;
+                            l += fs.f_blocks;
+                            l += fs.f_bavail;
+                        ],
+                        [
+                            wx_cv_type_statvfs_t="struct statvfs"
+                        ],
+                        [
+                            wx_cv_type_statvfs_t="unknown"
+                        ]
+                    )
+                ]
+            )
+        )
+
+        AC_LANG_RESTORE
+
+        if test "$wx_cv_type_statvfs_t" != "unknown"; then
+            AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STATVFS)
+        fi
     else
-        AC_MSG_WARN([wxGetDiskSpace() function won't work without statfs()])
+        dnl set it for the test below
+        wx_cv_type_statvfs_t="unknown"
     fi
 fi
 
+if test "$wx_cv_type_statvfs_t" != "unknown"; then
+    AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(WX_STATFS_T, $wx_cv_type_statvfs_t)
+else
+    AC_MSG_WARN([wxGetDiskSpace() function won't work without statfs()])
+fi
+
 dnl check for fcntl() or at least flock() needed by Unix implementation of
 dnl wxSingleInstanceChecker
 if test "$wxUSE_SNGLINST_CHECKER" = "yes"; then
diff --git a/setup.h.in b/setup.h.in
index a553d06a27..c238900902 100644
--- a/setup.h.in
+++ b/setup.h.in
@@ -881,6 +881,9 @@
 /* The type of 3rd argument to getsockname() - usually size_t or int */
 #undef SOCKLEN_T
 
+/* The type of statvfs(2) argument */
+#undef WX_STATFS_T
+
 /* The signal handler prototype */
 #undef wxTYPE_SA_HANDLER
 
diff --git a/src/unix/utilsunx.cpp b/src/unix/utilsunx.cpp
index 59fb259624..c375770794 100644
--- a/src/unix/utilsunx.cpp
+++ b/src/unix/utilsunx.cpp
@@ -28,30 +28,32 @@
 
 #include "wx/wfstream.h"
 
+// not only the statfs syscall is called differently depending on platform, but
+// one of its incarnations, statvfs(), takes different arguments under
+// different platforms and even different versions of the same system (Solaris
+// 7 and 8): if you want to test for this, don't forget that the problems only
+// appear if the large files support is enabled
 #ifdef HAVE_STATFS
-#  ifdef __BSD__
-#    include <sys/param.h>
-#    include <sys/mount.h>
-#  else
-#    include <sys/vfs.h>
-#  endif
+    #ifdef __BSD__
+        #include <sys/param.h>
+        #include <sys/mount.h>
+    #else // !__BSD__
+        #include <sys/vfs.h>
+    #endif // __BSD__/!__BSD__
+
+    #define wxStatfs statfs
 #endif // HAVE_STATFS
 
-// not only the statfs syscall is called differently depending on platform, but
-// we also can't use "struct statvfs" under Solaris because it breaks down if
-// HAVE_LARGEFILE_SUPPORT == 1 and we must use statvfs_t instead
 #ifdef HAVE_STATVFS
     #include <sys/statvfs.h>
 
-    #define statfs statvfs
-# ifdef __HPUX__
-    #define wxStatFs struct statvfs
-# else
-    #define wxStatFs statvfs_t
-# endif
-#elif HAVE_STATFS
-    #define wxStatFs struct statfs
-#endif // HAVE_STAT[V]FS
+    #define wxStatfs statvfs
+#endif // HAVE_STATVFS
+
+#if defined(HAVE_STATFS) || defined(HAVE_STATVFS)
+    // WX_STATFS_T is detected by configure
+    #define wxStatfs_t WX_STATFS_T
+#endif
 
 #if wxUSE_GUI
     #include "wx/unix/execute.h"
@@ -1024,8 +1026,8 @@ bool wxGetDiskSpace(const wxString& path, wxLongLong *pTotal, wxLongLong *pFree)
 {
 #if defined(HAVE_STATFS) || defined(HAVE_STATVFS)
     // the case to "char *" is needed for AIX 4.3
-    wxStatFs fs;
-    if ( statfs((char *)(const char*)path.fn_str(), &fs) != 0 )
+    wxStatfs_t fs;
+    if ( wxStatfs((char *)(const char*)path.fn_str(), &fs) != 0 )
     {
         wxLogSysError( wxT("Failed to get file system statistics") );