diff --git a/ede-desktop/Desktop.cpp b/ede-desktop/Desktop.cpp
index b7b50cc..b31bb4e 100644
--- a/ede-desktop/Desktop.cpp
+++ b/ede-desktop/Desktop.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <limits.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include <FL/Fl.H>
 #include <FL/fl_draw.H>
diff --git a/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.cpp b/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.cpp
index a901001..386a606 100644
--- a/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.cpp
+++ b/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.cpp
@@ -153,7 +153,20 @@ void DesktopIcon::set_image(const char *name) {
 }
 
 void DesktopIcon::set_tooltip(const char *tip) {
+#if (FL_MAJOR_VERSION >= 1) && (FL_MINOR_VERSION >= 3)
 	copy_tooltip(tip);
+#else
+	/*
+	 * in versions prior 1.3, copy_tooltip didn't exist and there wasn't any
+	 * way to store tooltip without manually managing the storage
+	 */
+	if(tip) {
+		ttip = tip;
+		tooltip(ttip.c_str());
+	} else {
+		tooltip(tip);
+	}
+#endif
 }
 
 void DesktopIcon::update_label_font_and_size(void) {
diff --git a/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.h b/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.h
index 4883515..58eb34a 100644
--- a/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.h
+++ b/ede-desktop/DesktopIcon.h
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ private:
 	EDELIB_NS_PREPEND(String) path, cmd;
 	EDELIB_NS_PREPEND(MenuButton) *imenu;
 
+#if !((FL_MAJOR_VERSION >= 1) && (FL_MINOR_VERSION >= 3))
+	EDELIB_NS_PREPEND(String) ttip;
+#endif
+
 public:
 	DesktopIcon(const char *l, int W = DESKTOP_ICON_SIZE_W, int H = DESKTOP_ICON_SIZE_H);
 	~DesktopIcon();
diff --git a/ede-desktop/ede-desktop.cpp b/ede-desktop/ede-desktop.cpp
index d183e6b..5ecaa55 100644
--- a/ede-desktop/ede-desktop.cpp
+++ b/ede-desktop/ede-desktop.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <time.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <FL/Fl.H>
 #include <edelib/Ede.h>