diff --git a/security/nss/lib/util/quickder.c b/security/nss/lib/util/quickder.c
index 70ae42b270..9722f99d33 100644
--- a/security/nss/lib/util/quickder.c
+++ b/security/nss/lib/util/quickder.c
@@ -8,7 +8,22 @@
 
 #include "secerr.h"
 #include "secasn1.h" /* for SEC_ASN1GetSubtemplate */
-#include "secitem.h"
+
+/*
+* Windows NT4 / 2000 / XP‑RTM do not provide EncodePointer / DecodePointer.
+* On down‑level systems, the correct behaviour is to return the pointer unchanged.
+*/
+
+static __inline void* CompatDecodePointer(void* p)
+{
+    return p;
+}
+
+static __inline void* CompatEncodePointer(void* p)
+{
+    return p;
+}
+
 
 /*
  * simple definite-length ASN.1 decoder
@@ -402,7 +417,7 @@ DecodeInline(void* dest,
 }
 
 static SECStatus
-DecodePointer(void* dest,
+CompatDecodePointer(void* dest,
               const SEC_ASN1Template* templateEntry,
               SECItem* src, PLArenaPool* arena, PRBool checkTag)
 {
@@ -428,7 +443,7 @@ DecodeImplicit(void* dest,
                SECItem* src, PLArenaPool* arena)
 {
     if (templateEntry->kind & SEC_ASN1_POINTER) {
-        return DecodePointer((void*)((char*)dest),
+        return CompatDecodePointer((void*)((char*)dest),
                              templateEntry, src, arena, PR_FALSE);
     } else {
         return DecodeInline((void*)((char*)dest),
@@ -569,7 +584,7 @@ DecodeExplicit(void* dest,
 
     if (SECSuccess == rv) {
         if (templateEntry->kind & SEC_ASN1_POINTER) {
-            rv = DecodePointer(dest, templateEntry, &subItem, arena, PR_TRUE);
+            rv = CompatDecodePointer(dest, templateEntry, &subItem, arena, PR_TRUE);
         } else {
             rv = DecodeInline(dest, templateEntry, &subItem, arena, PR_TRUE);
         }
@@ -696,7 +711,7 @@ DecodeItem(void* dest,
             /* decode implicitly tagged components */
             rv = DecodeImplicit(dest, templateEntry, &temp, arena);
         } else if (kind & SEC_ASN1_POINTER) {
-            rv = DecodePointer(dest, templateEntry, &temp, arena, PR_TRUE);
+            rv = CompatDecodePointer(dest, templateEntry, &temp, arena, PR_TRUE);
         } else if (kind & SEC_ASN1_CHOICE) {
             rv = DecodeChoice(dest, templateEntry, &temp, arena);
         } else if (kind & SEC_ASN1_ANY) {