diff --git a/src/gtk/app.cpp b/src/gtk/app.cpp
index 1bf0720c28..7d15b6e1b3 100644
--- a/src/gtk/app.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/app.cpp
@@ -550,7 +550,9 @@ bool wxApp::Initialize()
 
     wxSystemSettings::Init();
     
+#if wxUSE_INTL
     wxFont::SetDefaultEncoding(wxLocale::GetSystemEncoding());
+#endif
 
     // GL: I'm annoyed ... I don't know where to put this and I don't want to
     // create a module for that as it's part of the core.
diff --git a/src/gtk1/app.cpp b/src/gtk1/app.cpp
index 1bf0720c28..7d15b6e1b3 100644
--- a/src/gtk1/app.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk1/app.cpp
@@ -550,7 +550,9 @@ bool wxApp::Initialize()
 
     wxSystemSettings::Init();
     
+#if wxUSE_INTL
     wxFont::SetDefaultEncoding(wxLocale::GetSystemEncoding());
+#endif
 
     // GL: I'm annoyed ... I don't know where to put this and I don't want to
     // create a module for that as it's part of the core.