diff --git a/src/widgets/widgets/qcalendarwidget.cpp b/src/widgets/widgets/qcalendarwidget.cpp
index f718ce6a69..c07100f8c3 100644
--- a/src/widgets/widgets/qcalendarwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/widgets/qcalendarwidget.cpp
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ QString QCalendarDateSectionValidator::highlightString(const QString &str, int p
     if (pos == 0)
         return QLatin1String("<b>") + str + QLatin1String("</b>");
     int startPos = str.length() - pos;
-    return str.mid(0, startPos) + QLatin1String("<b>") + str.mid(startPos, pos) + QLatin1String("</b>");
+    return str.midRef(0, startPos) + QLatin1String("<b>") + str.midRef(startPos, pos) + QLatin1String("</b>");
 
 }