diff --git a/libs/widgets/ardour_dropdown.cc b/libs/widgets/ardour_dropdown.cc
index d2f2d8226b..732a064bfd 100644
--- a/libs/widgets/ardour_dropdown.cc
+++ b/libs/widgets/ardour_dropdown.cc
@@ -82,20 +82,23 @@ ArdourDropdown::on_button_press_event (GdkEventButton* ev)
 void
 ArdourDropdown::set_active (std::string const& text)
 {
-	const MenuItem* current_active = _menu.get_active();
-	if (current_active && current_active->get_label() == text) {
+	LblMenuItem const* current_active = dynamic_cast<LblMenuItem*> (_menu.get_active ());
+	if (current_active && current_active->label() == text) {
 		set_text (text);
 		return;
 	}
 	using namespace Menu_Helpers;
-	const MenuList& items = _menu.items ();
 	int c = 0;
-	for (MenuList::const_iterator i = items.begin(); i != items.end(); ++i, ++c) {
-		if (i->get_label() == text) {
+	for (auto& i : _menu.items()) {
+		LblMenuItem const* m = dynamic_cast<LblMenuItem const*> (&i);
+		if ((m && (m->label() == text || m->menutext() == text))
+		    ||
+		    (!m && i.get_label() == text)) {
 			_menu.set_active (c);
-			_menu.activate_item (*i);
+			_menu.activate_item (i);
 			break;
 		}
+		++c;
 	}
 	set_text (text);
 	StateChanged (); /* EMIT SIGNAL */
@@ -206,11 +209,11 @@ ArdourDropdown::default_text_handler (std::string const& text) {
 void
 ArdourDropdown::append (Glib::RefPtr<Action> action)
 {
-	_menu.items().push_back (Menu_Helpers::MenuElem (action->get_short_label(), sigc::mem_fun (action.get(), &Action::activate)));
+	_menu.items().push_back (LblMenuElement (action));
 }
 
 void
 ArdourDropdown::append (Gtk::Menu& submenu, Glib::RefPtr<Action> action)
 {
-	submenu.items().push_back (Menu_Helpers::MenuElem (action->get_short_label(), sigc::mem_fun (action.get(), &Action::activate)));
+	submenu.items().push_back (LblMenuElement (action));
 }
diff --git a/libs/widgets/widgets/ardour_dropdown.h b/libs/widgets/widgets/ardour_dropdown.h
index 8cf573cc5c..6c9abbe0bd 100644
--- a/libs/widgets/widgets/ardour_dropdown.h
+++ b/libs/widgets/widgets/ardour_dropdown.h
@@ -61,6 +61,43 @@ protected:
 	void default_text_handler (std::string const&);
 
 private:
+	class LblMenuItem : public Gtk::MenuItem
+	{
+	public:
+		LblMenuItem (std::string const& label, std::string const& menutext)
+			: Gtk::MenuItem (menutext, false)
+			, _label (label)
+		{
+		}
+
+		std::string label () const
+		{
+			return _label;
+		}
+
+		std::string menutext () const
+		{
+			return get_label ();
+		}
+
+	private:
+		std::string _label;
+	};
+
+	class LblMenuElement : public Gtk::Menu_Helpers::MenuElem
+	{
+	public:
+		LblMenuElement (Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::Action> action)
+			: Gtk::Menu_Helpers::MenuElem ("")
+		{
+			LblMenuItem* mmi = manage (new LblMenuItem (action->get_short_label(), action->get_label()));
+			child_->unreference ();
+			set_child (mmi);
+			child_->signal_activate ().connect (sigc::mem_fun (action.get(), &Gtk::Action::activate));
+			child_->show ();
+		}
+	};
+
 	Gtk::Menu      _menu;
 
 	bool _scrolling_disabled;