diff --git a/engine/common/common.c b/engine/common/common.c
index e72af71f2..8273438a2 100644
--- a/engine/common/common.c
+++ b/engine/common/common.c
@@ -3067,6 +3067,8 @@ int build_number( void )
 
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
+// don't use these functions in MSVC8
+#if (_MSC_VER < 1400)
 int VARGS linuxlike_snprintf(char *buffer, int size, const char *format, ...)
 {
 #undef _vsnprintf
@@ -3102,3 +3104,5 @@ int VARGS linuxlike_vsnprintf(char *buffer, int size, const char *format, va_lis
 	return ret;
 }
 #endif
+
+#endif