diff --git a/include/wx/textentry.h b/include/wx/textentry.h
index 32c6895bd5..3d4863d881 100644
--- a/include/wx/textentry.h
+++ b/include/wx/textentry.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public:
     // ---------
 
     virtual void SetSelection(long from, long to) = 0;
-    virtual void SelectAll() { SetSelection(0, GetLastPosition()); }
+    virtual void SelectAll() { SetSelection(-1, -1); }
     virtual void GetSelection(long *from, long *to) const = 0;
     bool HasSelection() const;
     virtual wxString GetStringSelection() const;
diff --git a/src/gtk/textentry.cpp b/src/gtk/textentry.cpp
index f96aa09b50..a84c0e691e 100644
--- a/src/gtk/textentry.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/textentry.cpp
@@ -187,6 +187,12 @@ long wxTextEntry::GetLastPosition() const
 
 void wxTextEntry::SetSelection(long from, long to)
 {
+    // in wx convention, (-1, -1) means the entire range but GTK+ translates -1
+    // (or any negative number for that matter) into last position so we need
+    // to translate manually
+    if ( from == -1 && to == -1 )
+        from = 0;
+
     gtk_editable_select_region(GetEditable(), from, to);
 }