diff --git a/include/wx/msw/private.h b/include/wx/msw/private.h
index e04c44db50..457ecb757d 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/private.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/private.h
@@ -965,6 +965,12 @@ WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE void wxFillLogFont(LOGFONT *logFont, const wxFont *font);
 WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxFont wxCreateFontFromLogFont(const LOGFONT *logFont);
 WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxFontEncoding wxGetFontEncFromCharSet(int charset);
 
+inline void wxSetWindowFont(HWND hwnd, const wxFont& font)
+{
+    ::SendMessage(hwnd, WM_SETFONT,
+                  (WPARAM)GetHfontOf(font), MAKELPARAM(TRUE, 0));
+}
+
 WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE void wxSliderEvent(WXHWND control, WXWORD wParam, WXWORD pos);
 WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE void wxScrollBarEvent(WXHWND hbar, WXWORD wParam, WXWORD pos);
 
diff --git a/include/wx/msw/subwin.h b/include/wx/msw/subwin.h
index a0178147e7..038bf303f0 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/subwin.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/subwin.h
@@ -113,14 +113,11 @@ public:
     // set font for all windows
     void SetFont(const wxFont& font)
     {
-        HFONT hfont = GetHfontOf(font);
-        wxCHECK_RET( hfont, wxT("invalid font") );
-
         for ( size_t n = 0; n < m_count; n++ )
         {
             if ( m_hwnds[n] )
             {
-                ::SendMessage(m_hwnds[n], WM_SETFONT, (WPARAM)hfont, 0);
+                wxSetWindowFont(m_hwnds[n], font);
 
                 // otherwise the window might not be redrawn correctly
                 ::InvalidateRect(m_hwnds[n], NULL, FALSE /* don't erase bg */);
diff --git a/src/msw/listctrl.cpp b/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
index fc27322efc..af08c83b2d 100644
--- a/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
@@ -620,8 +620,7 @@ bool wxListCtrl::SetHeaderAttr(const wxItemAttr& attr)
 
             // We need to tell the header about its new font to let it compute
             // its new height.
-            ::SendMessage(hwndHdr, WM_SETFONT,
-                          (WPARAM)GetHfontOf(font), MAKELPARAM(TRUE, 0));
+            wxSetWindowFont(hwndHdr, font);
         }
 
         // Refreshing the listview makes it notice the change in height of its
diff --git a/src/msw/renderer.cpp b/src/msw/renderer.cpp
index b7bd070f5e..b353eec254 100644
--- a/src/msw/renderer.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/renderer.cpp
@@ -552,7 +552,8 @@ int wxRendererMSW::GetHeaderButtonHeight(wxWindow * win)
         font = win->GetFont();
     if ( !font.IsOk() )
         wxSystemSettings::GetFont(wxSYS_DEFAULT_GUI_FONT);
-    ::SendMessage(hwndHeader, WM_SETFONT, (WPARAM)GetHfontOf(font), 0);
+
+    wxSetWindowFont(hwndHeader, font);
 
     // initialize the struct filled with the values by Header_Layout()
     RECT parentRect = { 0, 0, 100, 100 };
diff --git a/src/msw/spinctrl.cpp b/src/msw/spinctrl.cpp
index 222c787bc9..6c794fb47a 100644
--- a/src/msw/spinctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/spinctrl.cpp
@@ -564,8 +564,7 @@ bool wxSpinCtrl::SetFont(const wxFont& font)
         return false;
     }
 
-    WXHANDLE hFont = GetFont().GetResourceHandle();
-    (void)::SendMessage(GetBuddyHwnd(), WM_SETFONT, (WPARAM)hFont, TRUE);
+    wxSetWindowFont(GetBuddyHwnd(), GetFont());
 
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/msw/window.cpp b/src/msw/window.cpp
index 0a380c0e8b..5f8ef7791d 100644
--- a/src/msw/window.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/window.cpp
@@ -827,11 +827,7 @@ bool wxWindowMSW::SetFont(const wxFont& font)
         // just been reset and in this case we need to change the font used by
         // the native window to the default for this class, i.e. exactly what
         // GetFont() returns
-        WXHANDLE hFont = GetFont().GetResourceHandle();
-
-        wxASSERT_MSG( hFont, wxT("should have valid font") );
-
-        ::SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETFONT, (WPARAM)hFont, MAKELPARAM(TRUE, 0));
+        wxSetWindowFont(hWnd, GetFont());
     }
 
     return true;