diff --git a/src/msw/treectrl.cpp b/src/msw/treectrl.cpp
index baaccbd974..f0f9fa1725 100644
--- a/src/msw/treectrl.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/treectrl.cpp
@@ -2134,10 +2134,10 @@ long wxTreeCtrl::MSWWindowProc(WXUINT nMsg, WXWPARAM wParam, WXLPARAM lParam)
         switch ( nMsg )
         {
             case WM_RBUTTONDOWN:
-                // if the item we are about to right click on
-                // is not already select, remove the entire
-                // previous selection
-                if (!::IsItemSelected(GetHwnd(), htItem))
+                // if the item we are about to right click on is not already
+                // selected or if we click outside of any item, remove the
+                // entire previous selection
+                if ( !htItem || !::IsItemSelected(GetHwnd(), htItem) )
                 {
                     UnselectAll();
                 }