diff --git a/gtk/gtkenums.h b/gtk/gtkenums.h
index 6a339637d0..daff2f0ddf 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkenums.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkenums.h
@@ -860,8 +860,12 @@ typedef enum
  * @GTK_STATE_FLAG_INCONSISTENT: Widget is inconsistent.
  * @GTK_STATE_FLAG_FOCUSED: Widget has the keyboard focus.
  * @GTK_STATE_FLAG_BACKDROP: Widget is in a background toplevel window.
+ * @GTK_STATE_FLAG_LTR: Widget is in left-to-right text direction
+ * @GTK_STATE_FLAG_RTL: Widget is in right-to-left text direction
  *
- * Describes a widget state.
+ * Describes a widget state. Widget states are used to match the widget
+ * against CSS pseudo-classes. Note that GTK extends the regular CSS
+ * classes and sometimes uses different names.
  */
 typedef enum
 {
@@ -872,7 +876,9 @@ typedef enum
   GTK_STATE_FLAG_INSENSITIVE  = 1 << 3,
   GTK_STATE_FLAG_INCONSISTENT = 1 << 4,
   GTK_STATE_FLAG_FOCUSED      = 1 << 5,
-  GTK_STATE_FLAG_BACKDROP     = 1 << 6
+  GTK_STATE_FLAG_BACKDROP     = 1 << 6,
+  GTK_STATE_FLAG_DIR_LTR      = 1 << 7,
+  GTK_STATE_FLAG_DIR_RTL      = 1 << 8
 } GtkStateFlags;
 
 /**
diff --git a/gtk/gtkwidget.c b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
index a82e62be0b..13f7b7953d 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkwidget.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
@@ -300,12 +300,12 @@
  * all flags will be set on children (think prelight or active), but we
  * might want to not do this for some.
  */
-#define GTK_STATE_FLAGS_DONT_PROPAGATE (GTK_STATE_FLAG_FOCUSED)
+#define GTK_STATE_FLAGS_DONT_PROPAGATE (GTK_STATE_FLAG_FOCUSED | GTK_STATE_FLAG_DIR_LTR | GTK_STATE_FLAG_DIR_RTL)
 #define GTK_STATE_FLAGS_DO_PROPAGATE (~GTK_STATE_FLAGS_DONT_PROPAGATE)
 
 #define WIDGET_CLASS(w)	 GTK_WIDGET_GET_CLASS (w)
 
-#define GTK_STATE_FLAGS_BITS 7
+#define GTK_STATE_FLAGS_BITS 9
 
 struct _GtkWidgetPrivate
 {