diff --git a/gdk/win32/gdkcursor-win32.c b/gdk/win32/gdkcursor-win32.c
index eb4a454228..28b2745266 100644
--- a/gdk/win32/gdkcursor-win32.c
+++ b/gdk/win32/gdkcursor-win32.c
@@ -821,7 +821,22 @@ _gdk_win32_pixbuf_to_hcursor (GdkPixbuf *pixbuf,
 gboolean
 _gdk_win32_pixbuf_to_hicon_supports_alpha (void)
 {
-  return TRUE;
+  static gboolean is_win_xp=FALSE, is_win_xp_checked=FALSE;
+
+  if (!is_win_xp_checked)
+    {
+      OSVERSIONINFO version;
+
+      is_win_xp_checked = TRUE;
+
+      memset (&version, 0, sizeof (version));
+      version.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof (version);
+      is_win_xp = GetVersionEx (&version)
+	&& version.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_NT
+	&& (version.dwMajorVersion > 5
+	    || (version.dwMajorVersion == 5 && version.dwMinorVersion >= 1));
+    }
+  return is_win_xp;
 }
 
 HICON
diff --git a/gdk/win32/gdkwindow-win32.c b/gdk/win32/gdkwindow-win32.c
index da85ded5e2..3e568a4a99 100644
--- a/gdk/win32/gdkwindow-win32.c
+++ b/gdk/win32/gdkwindow-win32.c
@@ -375,8 +375,12 @@ RegisterGdkClass (GdkWindowType wtype, GdkWindowTypeHint wtype_hint)
             {
               wcl.lpszClassName = L"gdkWindowTempShadow";
               wcl.style |= CS_SAVEBITS;
-              wcl.style |= 0x00020000; /* CS_DROPSHADOW */
-
+              if (LOBYTE (g_win32_get_windows_version()) > 0x05 ||
+		  LOWORD (g_win32_get_windows_version()) == 0x0105)
+		{
+		  /* Windows XP (5.1) or above */
+		  wcl.style |= 0x00020000; /* CS_DROPSHADOW */
+		}
               ONCE_PER_CLASS ();
               klassTEMPSHADOW = RegisterClassExW (&wcl);
             }