diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.h b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.h
index e2db285148..cbc75e83a9 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.h
@@ -825,6 +825,8 @@ class ARDOUR_UI : public Gtkmm2ext::UI, public ARDOUR::SessionHandlePtr
 	void grab_focus_after_dialog ();
 
 	void tabs_switch (GtkNotebookPage*, guint page_number);
+	void tabs_page_added (Gtk::Widget*, guint page_number);
+	void tabs_page_removed (Gtk::Widget*, guint page_number);
 	bool key_press_focus_accelerator_handler (Gtk::Window& window, GdkEventKey* ev, Gtkmm2ext::Bindings*);
 };
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui2.cc b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui2.cc
index edce58fb7c..0a9be6de70 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui2.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui2.cc
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ ARDOUR_UI::setup_windows ()
 	rc_option_editor->contents().show_all ();
 	
 	_tabs.signal_switch_page().connect (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &ARDOUR_UI::tabs_switch));
+	_tabs.signal_page_removed().connect (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &ARDOUR_UI::tabs_page_removed));
+	_tabs.signal_page_added().connect (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &ARDOUR_UI::tabs_page_added));
 
 	/* It would be nice if Gtkmm had wrapped this rather than just
 	 * deprecating the old set_window_creation_hook() method, but oh well...
@@ -158,6 +160,26 @@ ARDOUR_UI::setup_windows ()
 	return 0;
 }
 
+void
+ARDOUR_UI::tabs_page_removed (Gtk::Widget*, guint)
+{
+	if (_tabs.get_n_pages() == 1) {
+		_tabs.set_show_tabs (false);
+	} else {
+		_tabs.set_show_tabs (true);
+	}
+}
+
+void
+ARDOUR_UI::tabs_page_added (Gtk::Widget*, guint)
+{
+	if (_tabs.get_n_pages() == 1) {
+		_tabs.set_show_tabs (false);
+	} else {
+		_tabs.set_show_tabs (true);
+	}
+}
+
 void
 ARDOUR_UI::tabs_switch (GtkNotebookPage*, guint page_number)
 {