diff --git a/iio-private.h b/iio-private.h
index 6d0fb2dd5..cce44a82b 100644
--- a/iio-private.h
+++ b/iio-private.h
@@ -29,8 +29,10 @@
 #ifdef _MSC_BUILD
 #define inline __inline
 #define iio_snprintf sprintf_s
+#define iio_sscanf sscanf_s
 #else
 #define iio_snprintf snprintf
+#define iio_sscanf sscanf
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
diff --git a/iiod-client.c b/iiod-client.c
index aabafe472..0469a115a 100644
--- a/iiod-client.c
+++ b/iiod-client.c
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ static int iiod_client_read_mask(struct iiod_client *client,
 	IIO_DEBUG("Reading mask\n");
 
 	for (i = words, ptr = buf; i > 0; i--) {
-		sscanf(ptr, "%08" PRIx32, &mask[i - 1]);
+		iio_sscanf(ptr, "%08" PRIx32, &mask[i - 1]);
 		IIO_DEBUG("mask[%lu] = 0x%08" PRIx32 "\n",
 				(unsigned long)(i - 1), mask[i - 1]);
 
diff --git a/local.c b/local.c
index 54cef6f32..3faed8af8 100644
--- a/local.c
+++ b/local.c
@@ -1230,12 +1230,22 @@ static int handle_protected_scan_element_attr(struct iio_channel *chn,
 			char endian, sign;
 
 			if (strchr(buf, 'X')) {
-				sscanf(buf, "%ce:%c%u/%uX%u>>%u", &endian, &sign,
+				iio_sscanf(buf, "%ce:%c%u/%uX%u>>%u",
+#ifdef _MSC_BUILD
+					&e, sizeof(e), &s, sizeof(s),
+#else
+					&endian, &sign,
+#endif
 					&chn->format.bits, &chn->format.length,
 					&chn->format.repeat, &chn->format.shift);
 			} else {
 				chn->format.repeat = 1;
-				sscanf(buf, "%ce:%c%u/%u>>%u", &endian, &sign,
+				iio_sscanf(buf, "%ce:%c%u/%u>>%u",
+#ifdef _MSC_BUILD
+					&e, sizeof(e), &s, sizeof(s),
+#else
+					&endian, &sign,
+#endif
 					&chn->format.bits, &chn->format.length,
 					&chn->format.shift);
 			}
diff --git a/network.c b/network.c
index 18770c928..cea71a80e 100644
--- a/network.c
+++ b/network.c
@@ -780,7 +780,7 @@ static ssize_t network_read_mask(struct iio_network_io_context *io_ctx,
 			if (ret < 0)
 				return ret;
 
-			sscanf(buf, "%08x", &mask[i - 1]);
+			iio_sscanf(buf, "%08x", &mask[i - 1]);
 			IIO_DEBUG("mask[%lu] = 0x%x\n",
 					(unsigned long)(i - 1), mask[i - 1]);
 		}
diff --git a/xml.c b/xml.c
index 5640dc36b..607d7812f 100644
--- a/xml.c
+++ b/xml.c
@@ -143,14 +143,24 @@ static void setup_scan_element(struct iio_channel *chn, xmlNode *n)
 		} else if (!strcmp(name, "format")) {
 			char e, s;
 			if (strchr(content, 'X')) {
-				sscanf(content, "%ce:%c%u/%uX%u>>%u", &e, &s,
+				iio_sscanf(content, "%ce:%c%u/%uX%u>>%u",
+#ifdef _MSC_BUILD
+					&e, sizeof(e), &s, sizeof(s),
+#else
+					&e, &s,
+#endif
 					&chn->format.bits,
 					&chn->format.length,
 					&chn->format.repeat,
 					&chn->format.shift);
 			} else {
 				chn->format.repeat = 1;
-				sscanf(content, "%ce:%c%u/%u>>%u", &e, &s,
+				iio_sscanf(content, "%ce:%c%u/%u>>%u",
+#ifdef _MSC_BUILD
+					&e, sizeof(e), &s, sizeof(s),
+#else
+					&e, &s,
+#endif
 					&chn->format.bits,
 					&chn->format.length,
 					&chn->format.shift);