diff --git a/include/wx/gtk/tooltip.h b/include/wx/gtk/tooltip.h
index f79618899a..ad476e5ecb 100644
--- a/include/wx/gtk/tooltip.h
+++ b/include/wx/gtk/tooltip.h
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ class WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxWindow;
 class WXDLLIMPEXP_CORE wxToolTip : public wxObject
 {
 public:
+    wxToolTip( const wxString &tip );
+
     // globally change the tooltip parameters
     static void Enable( bool flag );
     static void SetDelay( long msecs );
 
-    wxToolTip( const wxString &tip );
-
     // get/set the tooltip text
     void SetTip( const wxString &tip );
     wxString GetTip() const { return m_text; }
@@ -41,9 +41,17 @@ public:
     wxWindow *GetWindow() const { return m_window; }
     bool IsOk() const { return m_window != NULL; }
 
-    // implementation
+
+    // wxGTK-only from now on
+
+    // this forwards back to wxWindow::ApplyToolTip()
     void Apply( wxWindow *win );
 
+    // this just sets the given tooltip for the specified widget
+    //
+    // tip must be already UTF-8 encoded
+    static void Apply(GtkWidget *w, const wxCharBuffer& tip);
+
 private:
     wxString     m_text;
     wxWindow    *m_window;
diff --git a/src/gtk/tooltip.cpp b/src/gtk/tooltip.cpp
index 19bc0e985f..c46b6f9190 100644
--- a/src/gtk/tooltip.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/tooltip.cpp
@@ -46,12 +46,11 @@ void wxToolTip::SetTip( const wxString &tip )
 
 void wxToolTip::Apply( wxWindow *win )
 {
-    if (!win) return;
+    if (!win)
+        return;
 
-    if (!gs_tooltips)
-    {
+    if ( !gs_tooltips )
         gs_tooltips = gtk_tooltips_new();
-    }
 
     m_window = win;
 
@@ -61,9 +60,19 @@ void wxToolTip::Apply( wxWindow *win )
         m_window->ApplyToolTip( gs_tooltips, m_text );
 }
 
+/* static */
+void wxToolTip::Apply(GtkWidget *w, const wxCharBuffer& tip)
+{
+    if ( !gs_tooltips )
+        gs_tooltips = gtk_tooltips_new();
+
+    gtk_tooltips_set_tip(gs_tooltips, w, tip, NULL);
+}
+
 void wxToolTip::Enable( bool flag )
 {
-    if (!gs_tooltips) return;
+    if (!gs_tooltips)
+        return;
 
     if (flag)
         gtk_tooltips_enable( gs_tooltips );