diff --git a/src/common/string.cpp b/src/common/string.cpp
index da831ccafa..3fc2571a97 100644
--- a/src/common/string.cpp
+++ b/src/common/string.cpp
@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@
   IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC_CLASS(wxString, wxObject)
 #endif  //WXSTRING_IS_WXOBJECT
 
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+#undef wxUSE_EXPERIMENTAL_PRINTF
+#define wxUSE_EXPERIMENTAL_PRINTF 1
+#endif
+
 // allocating extra space for each string consumes more memory but speeds up
 // the concatenation operations (nLen is the current string's length)
 // NB: EXTRA_ALLOC must be >= 0!