diff --git a/icu4c/source/extra/ustdio/ustdio.c b/icu4c/source/extra/ustdio/ustdio.c
index a30ff237b9..73911a1a82 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/extra/ustdio/ustdio.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/extra/ustdio/ustdio.c
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ u_file_write(    const UChar     *chars,
     written     += (myTarget - f->fCharBuffer);
     myTarget     = f->fCharBuffer;
   }
-  while(status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR); 
+  while(status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR); 
 
   /* return # of chars written */
   return written;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/samples/XMLConverter/XMLConverter.cpp b/icu4c/source/samples/XMLConverter/XMLConverter.cpp
index d4ad4a59e4..9a34483629 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/samples/XMLConverter/XMLConverter.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/samples/XMLConverter/XMLConverter.cpp
@@ -921,8 +921,6 @@ int32_t  XMLUConvert( UConverter* inConverter,
         flush,
         err);
     
-    if (*err == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR) *err = U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR;
-    
    // *inBufSize = inBufferAlias;
     return outBufferAlias - outBuffer;
 }
@@ -969,11 +967,11 @@ void XMLU_fromCodepageToCodepage(    UConverter*    outConverter,
             flush,
             err);
         
-            /*U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR means that the output "CHUNK" is full
+            /*U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR means that the output "CHUNK" is full
             *we will require at least another loop (it's a recoverable error)
         */
         
-        if (U_SUCCESS(*err) || (*err == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR))
+        if (U_SUCCESS(*err) || (*err == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR))
         {
             *err = U_ZERO_ERROR;
             out_chunk_alias2 = out_chunk;
@@ -1024,11 +1022,11 @@ void XMLU_fromCodepageToCodepage(    UConverter*    outConverter,
 		      flush,
 		      err);
 
-      /*U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR means that the output "CHUNK" is full
+      /*U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR means that the output "CHUNK" is full
        *we will require at least another loop (it's a recoverable error)
        */
 
-      if (U_SUCCESS (*err) || (*err == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR))
+      if (U_SUCCESS (*err) || (*err == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR))
 	{
 	  *err = U_ZERO_ERROR;
 	  out_chunk_alias2 = out_chunk;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/samples/cal/uprint.c b/icu4c/source/samples/cal/uprint.c
index e468ab9092..67fa17a0aa 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/samples/cal/uprint.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/samples/cal/uprint.c
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ uprint(const UChar *s,
     myTarget     = buf;
     arraySize    = BUF_SIZE;
   }
-  while(*status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR); 
+  while(*status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR); 
 
  finish:
   
diff --git a/icu4c/source/samples/date/uprint.c b/icu4c/source/samples/date/uprint.c
index 54a715c9a4..f43e1721d7 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/samples/date/uprint.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/samples/date/uprint.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ uprint(const UChar *s,
     myTarget     = buf;
     arraySize    = BUF_SIZE;
   }
-  while(*status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR); 
+  while(*status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR); 
 
  finish:
   
diff --git a/icu4c/source/samples/scsu/compsamp.cpp b/icu4c/source/samples/scsu/compsamp.cpp
index 6bbb0b1fe5..d7497d8e3f 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/samples/scsu/compsamp.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/samples/scsu/compsamp.cpp
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ UErrorCode compsample_02()
           scsu_compress(&comp, &target, output+SAMPLE2BUFFERSIZE,
                         &source, input+sourceLen, &status);
           
-          if( (status == U_ZERO_ERROR) || (status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR)) {
+          if( (status == U_ZERO_ERROR) || (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR)) {
             /* got all of it */
 //            printBytes("out", output, target-output); // Uncomment for very verbose output..
             
diff --git a/icu4c/source/samples/ucnv/convsamp.cpp b/icu4c/source/samples/ucnv/convsamp.cpp
index bd5352a618..937625c474 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/samples/ucnv/convsamp.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/samples/ucnv/convsamp.cpp
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ UErrorCode convsample_03()
     size of input and output buffer can be used, as long as the
     program handles the following cases: If the input buffer is empty,
     the source pointer will be equal to sourceLimit.  If the output
-    buffer is empty, U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR will be returned. 
+    buffer has overflowed, U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR will be returned. 
  */
 
 UErrorCode convsample_05()
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ UErrorCode convsample_05()
                                    /* is true (when no more data will come) */
                        &status);
       
-        if(status != U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR)
+        if(status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR)
         {
           // simply ran out of space - we'll reset the target ptr the next
           // time through the loop.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/nccbtst.c b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/nccbtst.c
index f037b907d7..1b14e2519e 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/nccbtst.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/nccbtst.c
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ UBool testConvertFromUnicode(const UChar *source, int sourceLen,  const uint8_t
             }
 
         }
-    } while ( (status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR) || (U_SUCCESS(status) && (sourceLimit < realSourceEnd)) );
+    } while ( (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) || (U_SUCCESS(status) && (sourceLimit < realSourceEnd)) );
 
     if(U_FAILURE(status))
     {
@@ -1246,7 +1246,7 @@ UBool testConvertToUnicode( const uint8_t *source, int sourcelen, const UChar *e
             }
         }
 
-    } while ( (status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR) || (U_SUCCESS(status) && (srcLimit < realSourceEnd)) ); /* while we just need another buffer */
+    } while ( (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) || (U_SUCCESS(status) && (srcLimit < realSourceEnd)) ); /* while we just need another buffer */
 
 
     if(U_FAILURE(status))
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/ncnvfbts.c b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/ncnvfbts.c
index 5caa1e908d..b3bbe7d209 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/ncnvfbts.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/ncnvfbts.c
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ UBool testConvertFromUnicode(const UChar *source, int sourceLen,  const uint8_t
                   doFlush, /* flush if we're at the end of the input data */
                   &status);
 
-    } while ( (status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR) || (sourceLimit < realSourceEnd) );
+    } while ( (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) || (sourceLimit < realSourceEnd) );
 
     if(U_FAILURE(status))
     {
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ UBool testConvertToUnicode( const uint8_t *source, int sourcelen, const UChar *e
                 checkOffsets ? offs : NULL,
                 (UBool)(srcLimit == realSourceEnd), /* flush if we're at the end of hte source data */
                 &status);
-    } while ( (status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR) || (srcLimit < realSourceEnd) ); /* while we just need another buffer */
+    } while ( (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) || (srcLimit < realSourceEnd) ); /* while we just need another buffer */
 
 
     if(U_FAILURE(status))
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/rbdump/uprint.c b/icu4c/source/tools/rbdump/uprint.c
index d4aebf209a..a8946707ad 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/rbdump/uprint.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/rbdump/uprint.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ uprint(const UChar *s,
     myTarget     = buf;
     arraySize    = BUF_SIZE;
   }
-  while(*status == U_INDEX_OUTOFBOUNDS_ERROR); 
+  while(*status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR); 
 
  finish: