diff --git a/src/matlab/ctmatutils.h b/src/matlab/ctmatutils.h
index ae247a6c4..847e5defe 100644
--- a/src/matlab/ctmatutils.h
+++ b/src/matlab/ctmatutils.h
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ const double Undef = -999.123;
 // Workaround for VS2010 and Matlab 2010a.
 // mex.h must be included after <string> or another include from
 // the standard library which includes <yvals.h>.
-#if (_MSC_VER >= 1600) && defined(_CHAR16T)
-#define CHAR16_T char16_t
+#if (_MSC_VER >= 1600)
+#define __STDC_UTF_16__
 #endif
 #include "mex.h"