diff --git a/source/gui/CGUI.cpp b/source/gui/CGUI.cpp
index 24a249e380..54d8c46fab 100755
--- a/source/gui/CGUI.cpp
+++ b/source/gui/CGUI.cpp
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ using namespace std;
 
 #include "input.h"
 
-// JW: how about having each object export hit_test(x,y),
-// instead of accessing the global mouse pos?
-int gui_mouse_x, gui_mouse_y;
 
 // called from main loop when (input) events are received.
 // event is passed to other handlers if false is returned.
@@ -49,7 +46,7 @@ bool gui_handler(const SDL_Event& ev)
 bool CGUI::HandleEvent(const SDL_Event& ev)
 {
 	if(ev.type == SDL_MOUSEMOTION)
-		gui_mouse_x = ev.motion.x, gui_mouse_y = ev.motion.y;
+		mouse_x = ev.motion.x, mouse_y = ev.motion.y;
 
 // JW: (pre|post)process omitted; what're they for? why would we need any special button_released handling?
 
diff --git a/source/gui/CGUI.h b/source/gui/CGUI.h
index a81d547c2b..6e70c1f905 100755
--- a/source/gui/CGUI.h
+++ b/source/gui/CGUI.h
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ private:
 	// Private typedefs
 	typedef CGUIObject *(*ConstructObjectFunction)();
 
+	// don't want to pass this around with the ChooseMouseOverAndClosest broadcast -
+	// we'd need to pack this and pNearest in a struct
+	u16 mouse_x, mouse_y;
+
 public:
 	CGUI();
 	~CGUI();
@@ -158,7 +162,6 @@ private:
 	void Xerces_ReadSprite(XERCES_CPP_NAMESPACE::DOMElement *);
 	void Xerces_ReadImage(XERCES_CPP_NAMESPACE::DOMElement *, CGUISprite &parent);
 
-
 private:
 
 	// Variables
diff --git a/source/gui/CGUIObject.cpp b/source/gui/CGUIObject.cpp
index dfe84b1dbf..a6857cfb27 100755
--- a/source/gui/CGUIObject.cpp
+++ b/source/gui/CGUIObject.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ gee@pyro.nu
 
 //#include "stdafx."
 #include "GUI.h"
+#include "cgui.h"
 ///#include "Parser/parser.h"
 #include <assert.h>
 
@@ -166,24 +167,22 @@ void CGUIObject::SetupBaseSettingsInfo(map_Settings &SettingsInfo)
 }
 
 
-extern int gui_mouse_x, gui_mouse_y;	// declared in cgui.cpp
-// JW: how about MouseOver(mouse_x, mouse_y) instead of accessing the global mouse pos?
 
 
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------
 //  Checks if mouse is over and returns result
-//  Input:
-//    x, y					Absolute mouse position
+//  mouse_x, mouse_y defined in CGUI
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------
 bool CGUIObject::MouseOver()
 {
-	if (!GetGUI())
+	CGUI* gui = GetGUI();
+	if(!gui)
 		throw PS_NEEDS_PGUI;
 
-	return (gui_mouse_x >= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.left &&
-			gui_mouse_x <= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.right &&
-			gui_mouse_y >= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.bottom &&
-			gui_mouse_y <= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.top);
+	return (gui->mouse_x >= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.left &&
+			gui->mouse_x <= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.right &&
+			gui->mouse_y >= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.bottom &&
+			gui->mouse_y <= m_BaseSettings.m_Size.top);
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------