diff --git a/include/wx/webrequest.h b/include/wx/webrequest.h
index 8dae572afc..de45429126 100644
--- a/include/wx/webrequest.h
+++ b/include/wx/webrequest.h
@@ -93,12 +93,6 @@ public:
 
     void ReportDataReceived(size_t sizeReceived);
 
-    static void SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxString& value,
-        wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters);
-
-    static void SplitParameters(const wxString::const_iterator& begin,
-        const wxString::const_iterator& end, wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters);
-
 protected:
     wxString m_method;
     Storage m_storage;
diff --git a/interface/wx/webrequest.h b/interface/wx/webrequest.h
index 8cf37b8b02..8172458560 100644
--- a/interface/wx/webrequest.h
+++ b/interface/wx/webrequest.h
@@ -328,36 +328,6 @@ public:
     */
     wxFileOffset GetBytesExpectedToReceive() const;
     ///@}
-
-    /**
-        Splits the given string into a value and a collection of parameters.
-        Parameters are expected to be separated by semicolons.
-        Enclosing quotes of parameter values are removed.
-
-        For example, the string
-        @code
-           multipart/mixed; boundary="MIME_boundary_01234567"
-        @endcode
-        is split into the value
-        @code
-           multipart/mixed
-        @endcode
-        and the parameter
-        @code
-            boundary -> MIME_boundary_01234567
-        @endcode
-    */
-    static void SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxString& value,
-        wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters);
-
-    /**
-        Splits the given string into a collection of parameters.
-        Parameters are expected to be separated by semicolons.
-
-        Enclosing quotes of parameter values are removed.
-    */
-    static void SplitParameters(const wxString::const_iterator& begin,
-        const wxString::const_iterator& end, wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters);
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/common/webrequest.cpp b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
index 07b8946da0..e46a9f3a07 100644
--- a/src/common/webrequest.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webrequest.cpp
@@ -144,11 +144,15 @@ void wxWebRequest::ReportDataReceived(size_t sizeReceived)
 // The SplitParamaters implementation is adapted to wxWidgets
 // from Poco::Net::MessageHeader::splitParameters
 
-void wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxString& value,
-    wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters)
+// This function is used in a unit test, so define it inside wxPrivate
+// namespace and an anonymous one.
+namespace wxPrivate
 {
-    value.clear();
-    parameters.clear();
+
+WXDLLIMPEXP_NET wxString
+SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters)
+{
+    wxString value;
     wxString::const_iterator it = s.begin();
     wxString::const_iterator end = s.end();
     while ( it != end && wxIsspace(*it) )
@@ -158,17 +162,12 @@ void wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxString& value,
     value.Trim();
     if ( it != end )
         ++it;
-    SplitParameters(it, end, parameters);
-}
 
-void wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(const wxString::const_iterator& begin,
-    const wxString::const_iterator& end, wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters)
-{
+    parameters.clear();
     wxString pname;
     wxString pvalue;
     pname.reserve(32);
     pvalue.reserve(64);
-    wxString::const_iterator it = begin;
     while ( it != end )
     {
         pname.clear();
@@ -216,8 +215,12 @@ void wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(const wxString::const_iterator& begin,
         if ( it != end )
             ++it;
     }
+
+    return value;
 }
 
+} // namespace wxPrivate
+
 void wxWebRequest::ProcessStateEvent(State state, const wxString& failMsg)
 {
     if ( !IsActiveState(state) && GetResponse() )
@@ -318,9 +321,8 @@ wxString wxWebResponse::GetSuggestedFileName() const
 
     // Try to determine from Content-Disposition header
     wxString contentDisp = GetHeader("Content-Disposition");
-    wxString disp;
     wxWebRequestHeaderMap params;
-    wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(contentDisp, disp, params);
+    const wxString disp = wxPrivate::SplitParameters(contentDisp, params);
     if ( disp == "attachment" )
     {
         // Parse as filename to filter potential path names
diff --git a/tests/net/webrequest.cpp b/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
index 3482492d11..657e87cb04 100644
--- a/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
+++ b/tests/net/webrequest.cpp
@@ -203,6 +203,12 @@ TEST_CASE_METHOD(RequestFixture, "WebRequest", "[net][.]")
     }
 }
 
+namespace wxPrivate
+{
+WXDLLIMPEXP_NET wxString
+SplitParameters(const wxString& s, wxWebRequestHeaderMap& parameters);
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("WebRequestUtils", "[net]")
 {
     wxString value;
@@ -210,7 +216,7 @@ TEST_CASE("WebRequestUtils", "[net]")
 
     wxString header = "multipart/mixed; boundary=\"MIME_boundary_01234567\"";
 
-    wxWebRequest::SplitParameters(header, value, params);
+    value = wxPrivate::SplitParameters(header, params);
     REQUIRE( value == "multipart/mixed" );
     REQUIRE( params.size() == 1 );
     REQUIRE( params["boundary"] == "MIME_boundary_01234567" );