diff --git a/include/wx/webrequest.h b/include/wx/webrequest.h
index c7a430f2c2..85fe58fb1f 100644
--- a/include/wx/webrequest.h
+++ b/include/wx/webrequest.h
@@ -154,10 +154,6 @@ public:
 
     wxString AsString() const;
 
-    bool Init();
-
-    void Finalize();
-
     virtual wxString GetFileName() const;
 
 protected:
@@ -166,15 +162,24 @@ protected:
 
     wxWebResponse(wxWebRequest& request);
 
+    // Called from derived class ctor to finish initialization which can't be
+    // performed in ctor itself as it needs to use pure virtual method.
+    void Init();
+
     void* GetDataBuffer(size_t sizeNeeded);
 
     void ReportDataReceived(size_t sizeReceived);
 
 private:
+    // Called by wxWebRequest only.
+    void Finalize();
+
     wxMemoryBuffer m_readBuffer;
     mutable wxFFile m_file;
     mutable wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream> m_stream;
 
+    friend class wxWebRequest;
+
     wxDECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(wxWebResponse);
 };
 
diff --git a/src/common/webrequest.cpp b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
index 564ea457a5..6f9641127c 100644
--- a/src/common/webrequest.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ wxWebResponse::~wxWebResponse()
         wxRemoveFile(m_file.GetName());
 }
 
-bool wxWebResponse::Init()
+void wxWebResponse::Init()
 {
     if ( m_request.GetStorage() == wxWebRequest::Storage_File )
     {
@@ -274,15 +274,13 @@ bool wxWebResponse::Init()
                 GetContentLength() > freeSpace )
             {
                 m_request.SetState(wxWebRequest::State_Failed, _("Not enough free disk space for download."));
-                return false;
+                return;
             }
         }
 
         tmpPrefix.SetName("wxd");
         wxFileName::CreateTempFileName(tmpPrefix.GetFullPath(), &m_file);
     }
-
-    return true;
 }
 
 wxString wxWebResponse::GetMimeType() const
diff --git a/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp b/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
index b7280ffb20..6c04d1eeee 100644
--- a/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ wxWebResponseCURL::wxWebResponseCURL(wxWebRequest& request) :
 {
     curl_easy_setopt(GetHandle(), CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, static_cast<void*>(this));
     curl_easy_setopt(GetHandle(), CURLOPT_HEADERDATA, static_cast<void*>(this));
+
+    Init();
 }
 
 size_t wxWebResponseCURL::WriteData(void* buffer, size_t size)
@@ -192,7 +194,6 @@ void wxWebRequestCURL::Start()
         return;
 
     m_response.reset(new wxWebResponseCURL(*this));
-    m_response->Init();
 
     if ( m_dataSize )
     {
diff --git a/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp b/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
index ce45266be0..ef8bfad462 100644
--- a/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/webrequest_winhttp.cpp
@@ -220,8 +220,11 @@ void wxWebRequestWinHTTP::CreateResponse()
     if ( ::WinHttpReceiveResponse(m_request, NULL) )
     {
         m_response.reset(new wxWebResponseWinHTTP(*this));
-        if ( !m_response->Init() )
+        // wxWebResponseWinHTTP ctor could have changed the state if its
+        // initialization failed, so check for this.
+        if ( GetState() == State_Failed )
             return;
+
         int status = m_response->GetStatus();
         if ( status == 401 || status == 407)
         {
@@ -364,6 +367,8 @@ wxWebResponseWinHTTP::wxWebResponseWinHTTP(wxWebRequestWinHTTP& request):
     if ( contentLengthStr.empty() ||
         !contentLengthStr.ToLongLong(&m_contentLength) )
         m_contentLength = -1;
+
+    Init();
 }
 
 wxString wxWebResponseWinHTTP::GetURL() const
diff --git a/src/osx/webrequest_urlsession.mm b/src/osx/webrequest_urlsession.mm
index 96e5e59045..f0e0eb40ea 100644
--- a/src/osx/webrequest_urlsession.mm
+++ b/src/osx/webrequest_urlsession.mm
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@ void wxWebRequestURLSession::Start()
     [session.GetDelegate() registerRequest:this task:m_task];
 
     m_response.reset(new wxWebResponseURLSession(*this, m_task));
-    m_response->Init();
 
     SetState(State_Active);
     [m_task resume];
@@ -191,6 +190,8 @@ wxWebResponseURLSession::wxWebResponseURLSession(wxWebRequest& request, WX_NSURL
     wxWebResponse(request)
 {
     m_task = [task retain];
+
+    Init();
 }
 
 wxWebResponseURLSession::~wxWebResponseURLSession()