diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxcairo.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxcairo.py
index bd61fa03780a..8bd71f5b8d4e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxcairo.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxcairo.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from .backend_cairo import cairo, FigureCanvasCairo, RendererCairo
 from .backend_wx import (
     _BackendWx, _FigureCanvasWxBase, FigureFrameWx, NavigationToolbar2Wx)
-from . import wx_compat as wxc
+import wx.lib.wxcairo as wxcairo
 
 
 class FigureFrameWxCairo(FigureFrameWx):
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ def draw(self, drawDC=None):
         self._renderer.set_ctx_from_surface(surface)
         self._renderer.set_width_height(width, height)
         self.figure.draw(self._renderer)
-        buf = surface.get_data()
-        self.bitmap = wxc.BitmapFromBuffer(width, height, buf)
+        self.bitmap = wxcairo.BitmapFromImageSurface(surface)
         self._isDrawn = True
         self.gui_repaint(drawDC=drawDC, origin='WXCairo')