diff --git a/src/common/txtstrm.cpp b/src/common/txtstrm.cpp
index 940f02c086..62f2e5f72c 100644
--- a/src/common/txtstrm.cpp
+++ b/src/common/txtstrm.cpp
@@ -493,12 +493,8 @@ wxTextOutputStream& wxTextOutputStream::operator<<(const wxString& string)
 
 wxTextOutputStream& wxTextOutputStream::operator<<(char c)
 {
-    // these strange manipulations are needed in Unicode mode
-    char buf[2];
-    buf[0] = c;
-    buf[1] = 0;
-
-    WriteString( wxString(buf) );
+    WriteString( wxString::FromAscii(c) );
+    
     return *this;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/common/url.cpp b/src/common/url.cpp
index 8ae14ec4e9..16e2689e9a 100644
--- a/src/common/url.cpp
+++ b/src/common/url.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ wxURL::wxURL(const wxString& url)
 #if wxUSE_SOCKETS
     if ( ms_useDefaultProxy && !ms_proxyDefault )
     {
-        SetDefaultProxy(getenv("HTTP_PROXY"));
+        SetDefaultProxy( wxGetenv(wxT("HTTP_PROXY")) );
 
         if ( !ms_proxyDefault )
         {
diff --git a/src/common/utilscmn.cpp b/src/common/utilscmn.cpp
index 0cdde609c2..3dcafe6cdb 100644
--- a/src/common/utilscmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/utilscmn.cpp
@@ -281,10 +281,10 @@ StringMatch (const wxChar *str1, const wxChar *str2, bool subString, bool exact)
 // [volatile]
 wxString wxNow()
 {
-  time_t now = time((time_t *) NULL);
-  char *date = ctime(&now);
-  date[24] = '\0';
-  return wxString(date);
+    time_t now = time((time_t *) NULL);
+    char *date = ctime(&now);
+    date[24] = '\0';
+    return wxString::FromAscii(date);
 }
 
 #if wxUSE_GUI