diff --git a/FreeFileSync/Source/ui/gui_status_handler.cpp b/FreeFileSync/Source/ui/gui_status_handler.cpp
--- a/FreeFileSync/Source/ui/gui_status_handler.cpp
+++ b/FreeFileSync/Source/ui/gui_status_handler.cpp
@@ -70,27 +70,33 @@ void StatusHandlerTemporaryPanel::showStatsPanel()
                 //case wxAUI_DOCK_CENTRE:
         }
 
+        wxAuiPaneInfoArray& paneArray = mainDlg_.auiMgr_.GetAllPanes();
         const bool statusRowTaken = [&]
         {
-            for (wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo : mainDlg_.auiMgr_.GetAllPanes())
+            for (size_t i = 0; i < paneArray.size(); ++i)
+            {
+                const wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo = paneArray[i];
                 //doesn't matter if paneInfo.IsShown() or not! => move down in either case!
                 if (&paneInfo != &statusPanel &&
                     paneInfo.dock_layer     == statusPanel.dock_layer &&
                     paneInfo.dock_direction == statusPanel.dock_direction &&
                     paneInfo.dock_row       == statusPanel.dock_row)
                     return true;
-
+            }
             return false;
         }();
 
         //move all rows that are in the way one step further
         if (statusRowTaken)
-            for (wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo : mainDlg_.auiMgr_.GetAllPanes())
+            for (size_t i = 0; i < paneArray.size(); ++i)
+            {
+                wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo = paneArray[i];
                 if (&paneInfo != &statusPanel &&
                     paneInfo.dock_layer     == statusPanel.dock_layer &&
                     paneInfo.dock_direction == statusPanel.dock_direction &&
                     paneInfo.dock_row       >= statusPanel.dock_row)
                     ++paneInfo.dock_row;
+            }
         //------------------------------------------------------------------
 
         statusPanel.Show();

--- a/wx+/darkmode.cpp
+++ b/wx+/darkmode.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ void zen::colorThemeInit(wxApp& app, Col
 {
     assert(!refGlobalColorHook());
 
-    globalDefaultThemeIsDark = wxSystemSettings::GetAppearance().AreAppsDark();
+    globalDefaultThemeIsDark = false;
     ZEN_ON_SCOPE_EXIT(if (!refGlobalColorHook()) refGlobalColorHook() = std::make_unique<SysColorsHook>()); //*after* SetAppearance() and despite errors
 
     //caveat: on macOS there are more themes than light/dark: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsappearance/name-swift.struct
@@ -93,10 +93,6 @@ void zen::changeColorTheme(ColorTheme colTheme) //throw FileError
     try
     {
         ZEN_ON_SCOPE_SUCCESS(refGlobalColorHook() = std::make_unique<SysColorsHook>()); //*after* SetAppearance()
-        if (wxApp::AppearanceResult rv = wxTheApp->SetAppearance(colTheme);
-            rv != wxApp::AppearanceResult::Ok)
-            throw SysError(formatSystemError("wxApp::SetAppearance",
-                                             rv == wxApp::AppearanceResult::CannotChange ? L"CannotChange" : L"Failure", L"" /*errorMsg*/));
     }
     catch (const SysError& e) { throw FileError(_("Failed to update the color theme."), e.toString()); }
 }
--- a/wx+/darkmode.h
+++ b/wx+/darkmode.h
@@ -9,14 +9,16 @@
 
 #include <zen/file_error.h>
 #include <wx/app.h>
+#include <wx/settings.h>
 
 
+enum class Appearance{System,Light,Dark};
 namespace zen
 {
 bool darkModeAvailable();
 
 //support not only "dark mode" but dark themes in general
-using ColorTheme = wxApp::Appearance; //why reinvent the wheel?
+using ColorTheme = Appearance; //why reinvent the wheel?
 
 void colorThemeInit(wxApp& app, ColorTheme colTheme); //throw FileError
 void colorThemeCleanup();
@@ -25,4 +27,28 @@ bool equalAppearance(ColorTheme colTheme1, ColorTheme colTheme2);
 void changeColorTheme(ColorTheme colTheme); //throw FileError
 }
 
+struct wxColorHook
+{
+    virtual ~wxColorHook() {}
+    virtual wxColour getColor(wxSystemColour index) const = 0;
+};
+WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE inline std::unique_ptr<wxColorHook>& refGlobalColorHook()
+{
+    static std::unique_ptr<wxColorHook> globalColorHook;
+    return globalColorHook;
+}
+
+
+class WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxSystemSettings2 : public wxSystemSettingsNative
+{
+public:
+    static wxColour GetColour(wxSystemColour index)
+    {
+        if (refGlobalColorHook())
+			return refGlobalColorHook()->getColor(index);
+
+        return wxSystemSettingsNative::GetColour(index);
+    }
+};
+
 #endif //DARKMODE_H_754298057018
--- a/FreeFilesync/Source/ui/main_dlg.cpp
+++ b/FreeFileSync/Source/ui/main_dlg.cpp
@@ -1279,11 +1279,11 @@ void MainDialog::setGlobalCfgOnInit(const GlobalConfig& globalCfg)
 
     //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     m_checkBoxMatchCase->SetValue(globalCfg_.mainDlg.textSearchRespectCase);
-
+    wxAuiPaneInfoArray& paneArray = auiMgr_.GetAllPanes();
     //work around wxAuiManager::LoadPerspective overwriting pane captions with old values (might be different language!)
     std::vector<std::pair<wxAuiPaneInfo*, wxString>> paneCaptions;
-    for (wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo : auiMgr_.GetAllPanes())
-        paneCaptions.emplace_back(&paneInfo, paneInfo.caption);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < paneArray.size(); ++i)
+        paneCaptions.emplace_back(&paneArray[i], paneArray[i].caption);
 
     //compare progress dialog minimum sizes are layout-dependent + can't be changed by user => don't load stale values from config
     std::vector<std::tuple<wxAuiPaneInfo*, wxSize /*min size*/, wxSize /*best size*/>> paneConstraints;
@@ -3147,8 +3147,8 @@ void MainDialog::onSetLayoutContext(wxMouseEvent& event)
     //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     bool addedSeparator = false;
-
-    for (wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo : auiMgr_.GetAllPanes())
+    const wxAuiPaneInfoArray& paneArray = auiMgr_.GetAllPanes();
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < paneArray.size(); ++i){ wxAuiPaneInfo& paneInfo = paneArray[i];
         if (!paneInfo.IsShown() &&
             paneInfo.window != compareStatus_->getAsWindow() &&
             paneInfo.window != m_panelLog                    &&
@@ -3166,7 +3166,7 @@ void MainDialog::onSetLayoutContext(wxMouseEvent& event)
                 this->auiMgr_.Update();
             });
         }
-
+    }
     menu.popup(*this);
 }