diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/au_pluginui.mm b/gtk2_ardour/au_pluginui.mm
index 6a41b27dcd..8ce8f9a6a8 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/au_pluginui.mm
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/au_pluginui.mm
@@ -1138,7 +1138,7 @@ AUPluginUI::parent_cocoa_window ()
 	resizable = false;
 
 	if (toplevel && toplevel->is_toplevel()) {
-		toplevel->size_request (req);
+		req = toplevel->size_request ();
 		toplevel->set_size_request (req.width, req.height);
 		dynamic_cast<Gtk::Window*>(toplevel)->set_resizable (false);
 	}
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/big_clock_window.cc b/gtk2_ardour/big_clock_window.cc
index 4badfb5fce..ecb3c12492 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/big_clock_window.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/big_clock_window.cc
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ BigClockWindow::BigClockWindow (AudioClock& c)
 	add (clock);
 	clock.show_all ();
 
-	clock.size_request (default_size);
+	default_size = clock.size_request ();
 
 	clock.signal_size_allocate().connect (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &BigClockWindow::clock_size_reallocated));
 }
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc b/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
index 481c7572b3..1da41659c3 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
@@ -331,11 +331,11 @@ Editor::reset_controls_layout_width ()
 	GtkRequisition req = { 0, 0 };
 	gint w;
 
-	edit_controls_vbox.size_request (req);
+	req = edit_controls_vbox.size_request ();
 	w = req.width;
 
 	if (_group_tabs->get_visible()) {
-		_group_tabs->size_request (req);
+		req = _group_tabs->size_request ();
 		w += req.width;
 	}
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/gain_meter.cc b/gtk2_ardour/gain_meter.cc
index 6515351f56..577b5d4009 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/gain_meter.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/gain_meter.cc
@@ -1019,12 +1019,12 @@ GainMeter::get_gm_width ()
 	Gtk::Requisition sz;
 	int min_w = 0;
 	sz.width = 0;
-	meter_metric_area.size_request (sz);
+	sz = meter_metric_area.size_request ();
 	min_w += sz.width;
-	level_meter->size_request (sz);
+	sz = level_meter->size_request ();
 	min_w += sz.width;
 
-	fader_alignment.size_request (sz);
+	sz = fader_alignment.size_request ();
 	if (_width == Wide)
 		return max(sz.width * 2, min_w * 2) + 6;
 	else
diff --git a/libs/canvas/widget.cc b/libs/canvas/widget.cc
index 85db46e3ba..30040e4783 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/widget.cc
+++ b/libs/canvas/widget.cc
@@ -127,8 +127,7 @@ Widget::compute_bounding_box () const
 	if (_allocation) {
 		_bounding_box = Rect (0, 0, _allocation.width(), _allocation.height());
 	} else {
-		GtkRequisition req = { 0, 0 };
-		_widget.size_request (req);
+		GtkRequisition req = _widget.size_request ();
 		_bounding_box = Rect (0., 0., req.width, req.height);
 	}
 
diff --git a/libs/widgets/frame.cc b/libs/widgets/frame.cc
index 7cd8ad8a4b..05b0e9a6e6 100644
--- a/libs/widgets/frame.cc
+++ b/libs/widgets/frame.cc
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Frame::on_size_request (GtkRequisition* r)
 	}
 
 	if (_w) {
-		_w->size_request (*r);
+		*r = _w->size_request ();
 	} else {
 		r->width  = 0;
 		r->height = 0;
diff --git a/libs/widgets/pane.cc b/libs/widgets/pane.cc
index ef170cb12b..c86eb5db31 100644
--- a/libs/widgets/pane.cc
+++ b/libs/widgets/pane.cc
@@ -101,13 +101,11 @@ Pane::on_size_request (GtkRequisition* req)
 	}
 
 	for (Children::iterator c = children.begin(); c != children.end(); ++c) {
-		GtkRequisition r;
-
 		if (!(*c)->w->get_visible ()) {
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		(*c)->w->size_request (r);
+		GtkRequisition r = (*c)->w->size_request ();
 
 		if (horizontal) {
 			largest.height = max (largest.height, r.height);
@@ -300,8 +298,7 @@ Pane::reallocate (Gtk::Allocation const & alloc)
 			fract = (*div)->fract;
 		}
 
-		Gtk::Requisition cr;
-		(*child)->w->size_request (cr);
+		Gtk::Requisition cr = (*child)->w->size_request ();
 
 		if (horizontal) {
 			child_alloc.set_width ((gint) floor (remaining * fract));