diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/SVG.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/SVG.js
index 32ca4feafb..6395050d26 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/SVG.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/SVG.js
@@ -52,6 +52,14 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
      */
     isGecko: null,
 
+    /**
+     * Property: supportUse
+     * {Boolean} true if defs/use is supported - known to not work as expected
+     * at least in some applewebkit/5* builds.
+     * See https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33322
+     */
+    supportUse: null,
+
     /**
      * Constructor: OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG
      * 
@@ -65,6 +73,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
         OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements.prototype.initialize.apply(this, 
                                                                 arguments);
         this.translationParameters = {x: 0, y: 0};
+        this.supportUse = (navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("applewebkit/5") == -1);
         this.isGecko = (navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("gecko/") != -1);
     },
 
@@ -208,7 +217,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
                 if (style.externalGraphic) {
                     nodeType = "image";
                 } else if (this.isComplexSymbol(style.graphicName)) {
-                    nodeType = "use";
+                    nodeType = this.supportUse === false ? "svg" : "use";
                 } else {
                     nodeType = "circle";
                 }
@@ -288,7 +297,6 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
                 var offset = style.pointRadius * 3;
                 var size = offset * 2;
                 var id = this.importSymbol(style.graphicName);
-                var href = "#" + id;
                 pos = this.getPosition(node);
                 widthFactor = this.symbolSize[id] / size;
                 
@@ -300,7 +308,17 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
                     parent.removeChild(node);
                 }
                 
-                node.setAttributeNS(this.xlinkns, "href", href);
+                if(this.supportUse === false) {
+                    // workaround for webkit versions that cannot do defs/use
+                    // (see https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33322):
+                    // copy the symbol instead of referencing it
+                    var src = document.getElementById(id);
+                    node.firstChild && node.removeChild(node.firstChild);
+                    node.appendChild(src.firstChild.cloneNode(true));
+                    node.setAttributeNS(null, "viewBox", src.getAttributeNS(null, "viewBox"));
+                } else {
+                    node.setAttributeNS(this.xlinkns, "href", "#" + id);
+                }
                 node.setAttributeNS(null, "width", size);
                 node.setAttributeNS(null, "height", size);
                 node.setAttributeNS(null, "x", pos.x - offset);
@@ -906,6 +924,26 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
         this.defs.appendChild(symbolNode);
         return symbolNode.id;
     },
+    
+    /**
+     * Method: getFeatureIdFromEvent
+     * 
+     * Parameters:
+     * evt - {Object} An <OpenLayers.Event> object
+     *
+     * Returns:
+     * {<OpenLayers.Geometry>} A geometry from an event that 
+     *     happened on a layer.
+     */
+    getFeatureIdFromEvent: function(evt) {
+        var featureId = OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements.prototype.getFeatureIdFromEvent.apply(this, arguments);
+        if(this.supportUse === false && !featureId) {
+            var target = evt.target;
+            featureId = target.parentNode && target != this.rendererRoot &&
+                target.parentNode._featureId;
+        }
+        return featureId;
+    },
 
     CLASS_NAME: "OpenLayers.Renderer.SVG"
 });