diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/watchdata.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/watchdata.cpp
index 9cbe253d7e4..8cad1a3c13c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/watchdata.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/watchdata.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 #include "watchutils.h"
 #include "debuggerprotocol.h"
 
-#include <QTextDocument> // Qt::escape() in Qt 4
 #include <QDebug>
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -338,11 +337,36 @@ QString WatchData::toString() const
     return res + QLatin1Char('}');
 }
 
+static QString htmlEscape(const QString &plain)
+{
+#if QT_VERSION >= 0x050000
+    return Qt::escape(plain);
+#else
+    // Copied from Qt to avoid GUI dependency
+    // (Qt::escape has been moved in Qt 5)
+    QString rich;
+    rich.reserve(int(plain.length() * qreal(1.1)));
+    for (int i = 0; i < plain.length(); ++i) {
+        if (plain.at(i) == QLatin1Char('<'))
+            rich += QLatin1String("&lt;");
+        else if (plain.at(i) == QLatin1Char('>'))
+            rich += QLatin1String("&gt;");
+        else if (plain.at(i) == QLatin1Char('&'))
+            rich += QLatin1String("&amp;");
+        else if (plain.at(i) == QLatin1Char('"'))
+            rich += QLatin1String("&quot;");
+        else
+            rich += plain.at(i);
+    }
+    return rich;
+#endif
+}
+
 // Format a tooltip fow with aligned colon.
 static void formatToolTipRow(QTextStream &str,
     const QString &category, const QString &value)
 {
-    QString val = Qt::escape(value);
+    QString val = htmlEscape(value);
     val.replace(QLatin1Char('\n'), QLatin1String("<br>"));
     str << "<tr><td>" << category << "</td><td> : </td><td>"
         << val << "</td></tr>";
diff --git a/tests/auto/debugger/dumpers.pro b/tests/auto/debugger/dumpers.pro
index 0cba83242fd..331ddc10243 100644
--- a/tests/auto/debugger/dumpers.pro
+++ b/tests/auto/debugger/dumpers.pro
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 QTC_LIB_DEPENDS += cplusplus utils
 QT += network
+QT -= gui
 
 include(../qttest.pri)
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/debugger/tst_dumpers.cpp b/tests/auto/debugger/tst_dumpers.cpp
index 4760aba1d97..959ef948e4f 100644
--- a/tests/auto/debugger/tst_dumpers.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/debugger/tst_dumpers.cpp
@@ -4920,7 +4920,7 @@ void tst_Dumpers::dumper_data()
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    QApplication app(argc, argv);
+    QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);
     tst_Dumpers test;
     return QTest::qExec(&test, argc, argv);
 }