diff --git a/include/wx/log.h b/include/wx/log.h
index 3228bed7ff..7f0112c04f 100644
--- a/include/wx/log.h
+++ b/include/wx/log.h
@@ -1479,13 +1479,13 @@ wxSafeShowMessage(const wxString& title, const wxString& text);
     #define wxLogApiError(api, rc)                                            \
         wxLogDebug(wxT("%s(%d): '%s' failed with error 0x%08lx (%s)."),       \
                    __FILE__, __LINE__, api,                                   \
-                   (long)rc, wxSysErrorMsg(rc))
+                   (long)rc, wxSysErrorMsgStr(rc))
 #else // !VC++
     #define wxLogApiError(api, rc)                                            \
         wxLogDebug(wxT("In file %s at line %d: '%s' failed with ")            \
                    wxT("error 0x%08lx (%s)."),                                \
                    __FILE__, __LINE__, api,                                   \
-                   (long)rc, wxSysErrorMsg(rc))
+                   (long)rc, wxSysErrorMsgStr(rc))
 #endif // VC++/!VC++
 
     #define wxLogLastError(api) wxLogApiError(api, wxSysErrorCode())
diff --git a/src/common/log.cpp b/src/common/log.cpp
index 7c1e9e89bb..137c05a0cc 100644
--- a/src/common/log.cpp
+++ b/src/common/log.cpp
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ wxLog::CallDoLogNow(wxLogLevel level,
     {
         const long err = static_cast<long>(num);
 
-        suffix.Printf(_(" (error %ld: %s)"), err, wxSysErrorMsg(err));
+        suffix.Printf(_(" (error %ld: %s)"), err, wxSysErrorMsgStr(err));
     }
 
 #if wxUSE_LOG_TRACE
diff --git a/src/common/strconv.cpp b/src/common/strconv.cpp
index 3f0cd2caeb..512d51088e 100644
--- a/src/common/strconv.cpp
+++ b/src/common/strconv.cpp
@@ -2411,7 +2411,7 @@ wxMBConv_iconv::ToWChar(wchar_t *dst, size_t dstLen,
     if (ICONV_FAILED(cres, srcLen))
     {
         //VS: it is ok if iconv fails, hence trace only
-        wxLogTrace(TRACE_STRCONV, wxT("iconv failed: %s"), wxSysErrorMsg(wxSysErrorCode()));
+        wxLogTrace(TRACE_STRCONV, wxT("iconv failed: %s"), wxSysErrorMsgStr(wxSysErrorCode()));
         return wxCONV_FAILED;
     }
 
@@ -2479,7 +2479,7 @@ size_t wxMBConv_iconv::FromWChar(char *dst, size_t dstLen,
 
     if (ICONV_FAILED(cres, inbuflen))
     {
-        wxLogTrace(TRACE_STRCONV, wxT("iconv failed: %s"), wxSysErrorMsg(wxSysErrorCode()));
+        wxLogTrace(TRACE_STRCONV, wxT("iconv failed: %s"), wxSysErrorMsgStr(wxSysErrorCode()));
         return wxCONV_FAILED;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/msw/debughlp.cpp b/src/msw/debughlp.cpp
index 592595d4a5..a1719f2902 100644
--- a/src/msw/debughlp.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/debughlp.cpp
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ const wxString& wxDbgHelpDLL::GetErrorMessage()
 void wxDbgHelpDLL::LogError(const wxChar *func)
 {
     ::OutputDebugString(wxString::Format(wxT("dbghelp: %s() failed: %s\r\n"),
-                        func, wxSysErrorMsg(::GetLastError())).t_str());
+                        func, wxSysErrorMsgStr(::GetLastError())).t_str());
 }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/msw/dialup.cpp b/src/msw/dialup.cpp
index 6337b847ed..9ac7a9eed1 100644
--- a/src/msw/dialup.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/dialup.cpp
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ wxString wxDialUpManagerMSW::GetErrorString(DWORD error)
     {
         case ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER:
             // this was a standard Win32 error probably
-            return wxString(wxSysErrorMsg(error));
+            return wxSysErrorMsgStr(error);
 
         default:
             {
@@ -1258,7 +1258,7 @@ static DWORD wxRasMonitorThread(wxRasThreadData *data)
                 (
                     wxT("WaitForMultipleObjects(RasMonitor) failed: 0x%08lx (%s)"),
                     err,
-                    wxSysErrorMsg(err)
+                    wxSysErrorMsgStr(err)
                 );
 
                 // no sense in continuing, who knows if the handles we're
diff --git a/src/msw/secretstore.cpp b/src/msw/secretstore.cpp
index 590816be98..3cc4d696b5 100644
--- a/src/msw/secretstore.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/secretstore.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include "wx/secretstore.h"
 #include "wx/private/secretstore.h"
 
-#include "wx/log.h"                     // wxSysErrorMsg()
+#include "wx/log.h"                     // wxSysErrorMsgStr()
 
 // Somewhat surprisingly, wincred.h is not self-contained and relies on some
 // standard Windows macros being defined without including the headers defining
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public:
 
         if ( !::CredWrite(&cred, 0) )
         {
-            errmsg = wxSysErrorMsg();
+            errmsg = wxSysErrorMsgStr();
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public:
             // Not having the password for this service/user combination is not
             // an error, but anything else is.
             if ( ::GetLastError() != ERROR_NOT_FOUND )
-                errmsg = wxSysErrorMsg();
+                errmsg = wxSysErrorMsgStr();
 
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ public:
         {
             // Same logic as in Load() above.
             if ( ::GetLastError() != ERROR_NOT_FOUND )
-                errmsg = wxSysErrorMsg();
+                errmsg = wxSysErrorMsgStr();
 
             return false;
         }
diff --git a/src/msw/thread.cpp b/src/msw/thread.cpp
index f696ab9c16..0805e1e19a 100644
--- a/src/msw/thread.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/thread.cpp
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ void WXDLLIMPEXP_BASE wxWakeUpMainThread()
             wxS("Failed to wake up main thread: PostThreadMessage(WM_NULL) ")
             wxS("failed with error 0x%08lx (%s)."),
             ec,
-            wxSysErrorMsg(ec)
+            wxSysErrorMsgStr(ec)
         );
     }
 }