diff --git a/bochs/gui/win32.cc b/bochs/gui/win32.cc
index 525e3bd90..71dba31eb 100644
--- a/bochs/gui/win32.cc
+++ b/bochs/gui/win32.cc
@@ -963,8 +963,9 @@ DWORD WINAPI UIThread(LPVOID)
     SendMessage(hwndTB, TB_BUTTONSTRUCTSIZE, (WPARAM) sizeof(TBBUTTON), 0);
     SendMessage(hwndTB, TB_SETBITMAPSIZE, 0, (LPARAM)MAKELONG(32, 32));
 
-    hwndSB = CreateStatusWindow(WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, "",
-                                stInfo.mainWnd, 0x7712);
+    hwndSB = CreateWindowEx(0, STATUSCLASSNAME, (PCTSTR)NULL,
+                            WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 0, 0, stInfo.mainWnd,
+                            (HMENU) 0x7712, stInfo.hInstance, NULL);
     if (hwndSB) {
       unsigned elements;
       SB_Edges[0] = SIZE_OF_SB_MOUSE_MESSAGE + SIZE_OF_SB_ELEMENT;
diff --git a/bochs/gui/win32dialog.h b/bochs/gui/win32dialog.h
index dd80022e9..0fd21f9b7 100644
--- a/bochs/gui/win32dialog.h
+++ b/bochs/gui/win32dialog.h
@@ -24,12 +24,11 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 // Compilation for WIN64 native require minimum 0x0500
-#ifndef _WIN32_IE
-#define _WIN32_IE 0x0500  /* Force a minimum "OS level" for commctrl.h */
-#endif
 #if _WIN32_IE < 0x0500
 #undef _WIN32_IE
-#define _WIN32_IE 0x0500
+#endif
+#ifndef _WIN32_IE
+#define _WIN32_IE 0x0500  /* Force a minimum "OS level" for commctrl.h */
 #endif
 
 extern "C" {