diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.h b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.h
index 9883fd2020..3b0fe48184 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.h
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.h
@@ -40,8 +40,11 @@ class LIBGTKMM2EXT_API PersistentTooltip : public sigc::trackable
 	void set_center_alignment (bool align_to_center);
 
 	virtual bool dragging () const;
+	static void set_tooltips_enabled (bool en) { _tooltips_enabled = en; }
+	static bool tooltips_enabled () { return _tooltips_enabled; }
 
   private:
+	static bool _tooltips_enabled;
 	bool timeout ();
 	void show ();
 	void hide ();
diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.cc b/libs/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.cc
index c7cb3f4df2..7ee1c3ba6f 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.cc
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ using namespace std;
 using namespace Gtk;
 using namespace Gtkmm2ext;
 
+bool PersistentTooltip::_tooltips_enabled = true;
+
 /** @param target The widget to provide the tooltip for */
 PersistentTooltip::PersistentTooltip (Gtk::Widget* target, bool  draggable, int margin_y)
 	: _target (target)
@@ -115,7 +117,7 @@ PersistentTooltip::hide ()
 void
 PersistentTooltip::show ()
 {
-	if (_tip.empty()) {
+	if (_tip.empty() || !_tooltips_enabled) {
 		return;
 	}
 
diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc b/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
index 2b0eb86a9c..7590ed2d78 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <gtkmm/tooltip.h>
 
 #include "gtkmm2ext/utils.h"
+#include "gtkmm2ext/persistent_tooltip.h"
 
 #include "i18n.h"
 
@@ -836,12 +837,14 @@ void
 Gtkmm2ext::enable_tooltips ()
 {
 	gtk_rc_parse_string ("gtk-enable-tooltips = 1");
+	PersistentTooltip::set_tooltips_enabled (true);
 }
 
 void
 Gtkmm2ext::disable_tooltips ()
 {
 	gtk_rc_parse_string ("gtk-enable-tooltips = 0");
+	PersistentTooltip::set_tooltips_enabled (false);
 }
 
 bool