diff --git a/include/wx/private/webrequest.h b/include/wx/private/webrequest.h
index e77858ef57..b74bbd566b 100644
--- a/include/wx/private/webrequest.h
+++ b/include/wx/private/webrequest.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public:
 
     void SetData(const wxString& text, const wxString& contentType, const wxMBConv& conv = wxConvUTF8);
 
-    bool SetData(const wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream, const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize = wxInvalidOffset);
+    bool SetData(wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream, const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize = wxInvalidOffset);
 
     void SetIgnoreServerErrorStatus(bool ignore) { m_ignoreServerErrorStatus = ignore; }
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ protected:
     wxWebRequest::Storage m_storage;
     wxWebRequestHeaderMap m_headers;
     wxFileOffset m_dataSize;
-    wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream> m_dataStream;
+    wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream> m_dataStream;
 
     wxWebRequestImpl(wxWebSession& session, wxEvtHandler* handler, int id);
 
diff --git a/include/wx/webrequest.h b/include/wx/webrequest.h
index 0f9da9aa3f..2582021d1d 100644
--- a/include/wx/webrequest.h
+++ b/include/wx/webrequest.h
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ public:
 
     void SetData(const wxString& text, const wxString& contentType, const wxMBConv& conv = wxConvUTF8);
 
-    bool SetData(const wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream, const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize = wxInvalidOffset);
+    bool SetData(wxInputStream* dataStream, const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize = wxInvalidOffset);
 
     void SetIgnoreServerErrorStatus(bool ignore);
 
diff --git a/interface/wx/webrequest.h b/interface/wx/webrequest.h
index 1eea20b305..dcde845b5a 100644
--- a/interface/wx/webrequest.h
+++ b/interface/wx/webrequest.h
@@ -269,10 +269,23 @@ public:
         @c GET and the given @a dataStream will be posted as the body of
         this request.
 
+        Example of use:
+        @code
+        std::unique_ptr<wxInputStream> stream(new wxFileInputStream("some_file.dat"));
+        if ( !stream->IsOk() ) {
+            // Handle error (due to e.g. file not found) here.
+            ...
+            return;
+        }
+        request.SetData(stream.release(), "application/octet-stream")
+        @endcode
+
         @param dataStream
             The data in this stream will be posted as the request body. The
-            stream may be empty, which will result in sending 0 bytes of data,
-            but if not empty, should be valid.
+            pointer may be @NULL, which will result in sending 0 bytes of data,
+            but if not empty, should be valid, i.e. wxInputStream::IsOk() must
+            return @true. This object takes ownership of the passed in pointer
+            and will delete it, i.e. the pointer must be heap-allocated.
         @param contentType
             The value of HTTP "Content-Type" header, e.g.
             "application/octet-stream".
@@ -284,7 +297,7 @@ public:
             dataSize is not specified and the attempt to determine stream size
             failed; @true in all the other cases.
     */
-    bool SetData(const wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream,
+    bool SetData(wxInputStream* dataStream,
         const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize = wxInvalidOffset);
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/common/webrequest.cpp b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
index 2f82d9d5fa..0c7134274b 100644
--- a/src/common/webrequest.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
@@ -97,17 +97,23 @@ bool wxWebRequestImpl::IsActiveState(wxWebRequest::State state)
 void wxWebRequestImpl::SetData(const wxString& text, const wxString& contentType, const wxMBConv& conv)
 {
     m_dataText = text.mb_str(conv);
-    SetData(wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>(new wxMemoryInputStream(m_dataText, m_dataText.length())), contentType);
+
+    wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream>
+        stream(new wxMemoryInputStream(m_dataText, m_dataText.length()));
+    SetData(stream, contentType);
 }
 
-bool wxWebRequestImpl::SetData(const wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream, const wxString& contentType, wxFileOffset dataSize)
+bool
+wxWebRequestImpl::SetData(wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream,
+                          const wxString& contentType,
+                          wxFileOffset dataSize)
 {
-    if ( !dataStream->IsOk() )
-        return false;
+    m_dataStream.reset(dataStream.release());
 
-    m_dataStream = dataStream;
-    if ( m_dataStream.get() )
+    if ( m_dataStream )
     {
+        wxCHECK_MSG( m_dataStream->IsOk(), false, "can't use invalid stream" );
+
         if ( dataSize == wxInvalidOffset )
         {
             // Determine data size
@@ -342,13 +348,16 @@ void wxWebRequest::SetData(const wxString& text, const wxString& contentType, co
 }
 
 bool
-wxWebRequest::SetData(const wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream>& dataStream,
+wxWebRequest::SetData(wxInputStream* dataStream,
                       const wxString& contentType,
                       wxFileOffset dataSize)
 {
+    // Ensure that the stream is destroyed even we return below.
+    wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream> streamPtr(dataStream);
+
     wxCHECK_IMPL( false );
 
-    return m_impl->SetData(dataStream, contentType, dataSize);
+    return m_impl->SetData(streamPtr, contentType, dataSize);
 }
 
 void wxWebRequest::SetIgnoreServerErrorStatus(bool ignore)
diff --git a/tests/net/webrequest.cpp b/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
index 488fc1a0d2..cb8caede1e 100644
--- a/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
+++ b/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
@@ -178,10 +178,10 @@ TEST_CASE_METHOD(RequestFixture, "WebRequest", "[net][webrequest]")
     SECTION("PUT file data")
     {
         Create("/put");
-        wxSharedPtr<wxInputStream> is(new wxFileInputStream("horse.png"));
+        wxScopedPtr<wxInputStream> is(new wxFileInputStream("horse.png"));
         REQUIRE( is->IsOk() );
 
-        request.SetData(is, "image/png");
+        request.SetData(is.release(), "image/png");
         request.SetMethod("PUT");
         Run();
     }