diff --git a/include/wx/html/htmlwin.h b/include/wx/html/htmlwin.h
index 45d55c55bb..c5ab33c154 100644
--- a/include/wx/html/htmlwin.h
+++ b/include/wx/html/htmlwin.h
@@ -400,7 +400,6 @@ protected:
     // actual size of window. This method also setup scrollbars
     void CreateLayout();
 
-    void OnEraseBackground(wxEraseEvent& event);
     void OnPaint(wxPaintEvent& event);
     void OnSize(wxSizeEvent& event);
     void OnMouseMove(wxMouseEvent& event);
@@ -510,8 +509,13 @@ protected:
 #endif // wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
 
 private:
-    // window content for double buffered rendering:
-    wxBitmap *m_backBuffer;
+    // erase the window background using m_bmpBg or just solid colour if we
+    // don't have any background image
+    void DoEraseBackground(wxDC& dc);
+
+    // window content for double buffered rendering, may be invalid until it is
+    // really initialized in OnPaint()
+    wxBitmap m_backBuffer;
 
     // background image, may be invalid
     wxBitmap m_bmpBg;
@@ -539,10 +543,6 @@ private:
     // if this FLAG is false, items are not added to history
     bool m_HistoryOn;
 
-    // a flag set if we need to erase background in OnPaint() (otherwise this
-    // is supposed to have been done in OnEraseBackground())
-    bool m_eraseBgInOnPaint;
-
     // standard mouse cursors
     static wxCursor *ms_cursorLink;
     static wxCursor *ms_cursorText;
diff --git a/samples/html/test/test.cpp b/samples/html/test/test.cpp
index e30905a82b..6931da1ba3 100644
--- a/samples/html/test/test.cpp
+++ b/samples/html/test/test.cpp
@@ -49,18 +49,32 @@ public:
 class MyHtmlWindow : public wxHtmlWindow
 {
 public:
-    MyHtmlWindow(wxWindow *parent) : wxHtmlWindow( parent ) { }
+    MyHtmlWindow(wxWindow *parent) : wxHtmlWindow( parent )
+    {
+        // no custom background initially to avoid confusing people
+        m_drawCustomBg = false;
+    }
 
     virtual wxHtmlOpeningStatus OnOpeningURL(wxHtmlURLType WXUNUSED(type),
                                              const wxString& WXUNUSED(url),
                                              wxString *WXUNUSED(redirect)) const;
 
-private:
-    void OnClipboardEvent(wxClipboardTextEvent& event);
+    // toggle drawing of custom background
+    void DrawCustomBg(bool draw)
+    {
+        m_drawCustomBg = draw;
+        Refresh();
+    }
 
+private:
 #if wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
-    DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
+    void OnClipboardEvent(wxClipboardTextEvent& event);
 #endif // wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
+    void OnEraseBgEvent(wxEraseEvent& event);
+
+    bool m_drawCustomBg;
+
+    DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
     wxDECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(MyHtmlWindow);
 };
 
@@ -79,6 +93,7 @@ public:
     void OnBack(wxCommandEvent& event);
     void OnForward(wxCommandEvent& event);
     void OnProcessor(wxCommandEvent& event);
+    void OnDrawCustomBg(wxCommandEvent& event);
 
     void OnHtmlLinkClicked(wxHtmlLinkEvent& event);
     void OnHtmlCellHover(wxHtmlCellEvent &event);
@@ -121,7 +136,8 @@ enum
     ID_DefaultWebBrowser,
     ID_Back,
     ID_Forward,
-    ID_Processor
+    ID_Processor,
+    ID_DrawCustomBg
 };
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -136,6 +152,7 @@ BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
     EVT_MENU(ID_Back, MyFrame::OnBack)
     EVT_MENU(ID_Forward, MyFrame::OnForward)
     EVT_MENU(ID_Processor, MyFrame::OnProcessor)
+    EVT_MENU(ID_DrawCustomBg, MyFrame::OnDrawCustomBg)
 
     EVT_HTML_LINK_CLICKED(wxID_ANY, MyFrame::OnHtmlLinkClicked)
     EVT_HTML_CELL_HOVER(wxID_ANY, MyFrame::OnHtmlCellHover)
@@ -199,7 +216,8 @@ MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
     menuFile->AppendSeparator();
     menuFile->Append(ID_Processor, _("&Remove bold attribute"),
                      wxEmptyString, wxITEM_CHECK);
-
+    menuFile->AppendSeparator();
+    menuFile->AppendCheckItem(ID_DrawCustomBg, "&Draw custom background");
     menuFile->AppendSeparator();
     menuFile->Append(wxID_EXIT, _("&Close frame"));
     menuNav->Append(ID_Back, _("Go &BACK"));
@@ -323,6 +341,11 @@ void MyFrame::OnProcessor(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
     m_Html->LoadPage(m_Html->GetOpenedPage());
 }
 
+void MyFrame::OnDrawCustomBg(wxCommandEvent& event)
+{
+    m_Html->DrawCustomBg(event.IsChecked());
+}
+
 void MyFrame::OnHtmlLinkClicked(wxHtmlLinkEvent &event)
 {
     wxLogMessage(wxT("The url '%s' has been clicked!"), event.GetLinkInfo().GetHref().c_str());
@@ -355,11 +378,14 @@ wxHtmlOpeningStatus MyHtmlWindow::OnOpeningURL(wxHtmlURLType WXUNUSED(type),
     return wxHTML_OPEN;
 }
 
-#if wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
 BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyHtmlWindow, wxHtmlWindow)
+#if wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
     EVT_TEXT_COPY(wxID_ANY, MyHtmlWindow::OnClipboardEvent)
+#endif // wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
+    EVT_ERASE_BACKGROUND(MyHtmlWindow::OnEraseBgEvent)
 END_EVENT_TABLE()
 
+#if wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
 void MyHtmlWindow::OnClipboardEvent(wxClipboardTextEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 {
     // explicitly call wxHtmlWindow::CopySelection() method
@@ -385,3 +411,30 @@ void MyHtmlWindow::OnClipboardEvent(wxClipboardTextEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
     wxLogStatus(_T("Clipboard: nothing"));
 }
 #endif // wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
+
+void MyHtmlWindow::OnEraseBgEvent(wxEraseEvent& event)
+{
+    if ( !m_drawCustomBg )
+    {
+        event.Skip();
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // draw a background grid to show that this handler is indeed executed
+
+    wxDC& dc = *event.GetDC();
+    dc.SetPen(*wxBLUE_PEN);
+    dc.Clear();
+
+    const wxSize size = GetVirtualSize();
+    for ( int x = 0; x < size.x; x += 15 )
+    {
+        dc.DrawLine(x, 0, x, size.y);
+    }
+
+    for ( int y = 0; y < size.y; y += 15 )
+    {
+        dc.DrawLine(0, y, size.x, y);
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/src/html/htmlwin.cpp b/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
index 82f7c10557..058804ae6d 100644
--- a/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
+++ b/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@
 #include "wx/arrimpl.cpp"
 #include "wx/listimpl.cpp"
 
+// uncomment this line to visually show the extent of the selection
+//#define DEBUG_HTML_SELECTION
+
 // HTML events:
 IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC_CLASS(wxHtmlLinkEvent, wxCommandEvent)
 IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC_CLASS(wxHtmlCellEvent, wxCommandEvent)
@@ -312,8 +315,6 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::Init()
     m_timerAutoScroll = NULL;
     m_lastDoubleClick = 0;
 #endif // wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
-    m_backBuffer = NULL;
-    m_eraseBgInOnPaint = false;
     m_tmpSelFromCell = NULL;
 }
 
@@ -326,6 +327,18 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::Create(wxWindow *parent, wxWindowID id,
                                   name))
         return false;
 
+    // We can't erase our background in EVT_ERASE_BACKGROUND handler and use
+    // double buffering in EVT_PAINT handler as this requires blitting back
+    // something already drawn on the window to the backing store bitmap when
+    // handling EVT_PAINT but blitting in this direction is simply not
+    // supported by OS X.
+    //
+    // So instead we use a hack with artificial EVT_ERASE_BACKGROUND generation
+    // from OnPaint() and this means that we never need the "real" erase event
+    // at all so disable it to avoid executing any user-defined handlers twice
+    // (and to avoid processing unnecessary event if no handlers are defined).
+    SetBackgroundStyle(wxBG_STYLE_PAINT);
+
     SetPage(wxT("<html><body></body></html>"));
     return true;
 }
@@ -351,7 +364,6 @@ wxHtmlWindow::~wxHtmlWindow()
     delete m_FS;
     delete m_History;
     delete m_Processors;
-    delete m_backBuffer;
 }
 
 
@@ -979,90 +991,89 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::OnLinkClicked(const wxHtmlLinkInfo& link)
     }
 }
 
-void wxHtmlWindow::OnEraseBackground(wxEraseEvent& event)
+void wxHtmlWindow::DoEraseBackground(wxDC& dc)
 {
-    if ( !m_bmpBg.Ok() )
+    // if we don't have any background bitmap we just fill it with background
+    // colour and we also must do it if the background bitmap is not fully
+    // opaque as otherwise junk could be left there
+    if ( !m_bmpBg.IsOk() || m_bmpBg.GetMask() )
     {
-        // don't even skip the event, if we don't have a bg bitmap we're going
-        // to overwrite background in OnPaint() below anyhow, so letting the
-        // default handling take place would only result in flicker, just set a
-        // flag to erase the background below
-        m_eraseBgInOnPaint = true;
-        return;
-    }
-
-    wxDC& dc = *event.GetDC();
-
-    // if the image is not fully opaque, we have to erase the background before
-    // drawing it, however avoid doing it for opaque images as this would just
-    // result in extra flicker without any other effect as background is
-    // completely covered anyhow
-    if ( m_bmpBg.GetMask() )
-    {
-        dc.SetBackground(wxBrush(GetBackgroundColour(), wxBRUSHSTYLE_SOLID));
+        dc.SetBackground(GetBackgroundColour());
         dc.Clear();
     }
 
-    const wxSize sizeWin(GetClientSize());
-    const wxSize sizeBmp(m_bmpBg.GetWidth(), m_bmpBg.GetHeight());
-    for ( wxCoord x = 0; x < sizeWin.x; x += sizeBmp.x )
+    if ( m_bmpBg.IsOk() )
     {
-        for ( wxCoord y = 0; y < sizeWin.y; y += sizeBmp.y )
+        // draw the background bitmap tiling it over the entire window area
+        const wxSize sz = GetClientSize();
+        const wxSize sizeBmp(m_bmpBg.GetWidth(), m_bmpBg.GetHeight());
+        for ( wxCoord x = 0; x < sz.x; x += sizeBmp.x )
         {
-            dc.DrawBitmap(m_bmpBg, x, y, true /* use mask */);
+            for ( wxCoord y = 0; y < sz.y; y += sizeBmp.y )
+            {
+                dc.DrawBitmap(m_bmpBg, x, y, true /* use mask */);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
 
 void wxHtmlWindow::OnPaint(wxPaintEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 {
-    wxPaintDC dc(this);
+    wxPaintDC dcPaint(this);
 
     if (m_tmpCanDrawLocks > 0 || m_Cell == NULL)
         return;
 
     int x, y;
     GetViewStart(&x, &y);
-    wxRect rect = GetUpdateRegion().GetBox();
-    wxSize sz = GetSize();
+    const wxRect rect = GetUpdateRegion().GetBox();
+    const wxSize sz = GetClientSize();
 
+    // set up the DC we're drawing on: if the window is already double buffered
+    // we do it directly on wxPaintDC, otherwise we allocate a backing store
+    // buffer and compose the drawing there and then blit it to screen all at
+    // once
+    wxDC *dc;
     wxMemoryDC dcm;
-    if ( !m_backBuffer )
-        m_backBuffer = new wxBitmap(sz.x, sz.y);
-    dcm.SelectObject(*m_backBuffer);
-
-    if ( m_eraseBgInOnPaint )
+    if ( IsDoubleBuffered() )
     {
-        dcm.SetBackground(wxBrush(GetBackgroundColour(), wxBRUSHSTYLE_SOLID));
-        dcm.Clear();
-
-        m_eraseBgInOnPaint = false;
+        dc = &dcPaint;
     }
-    else // someone has already erased the background, keep it
+    else // window is not double buffered by the system, do it ourselves
     {
-        // preserve the existing background, otherwise we'd erase anything the
-        // user code had drawn in its EVT_ERASE_BACKGROUND handler when we do
-        // the Blit back below
-        dcm.Blit(0, rect.GetTop(),
-                 sz.x, rect.GetBottom() - rect.GetTop() + 1,
-                 &dc,
-                 0, rect.GetTop());
+        if ( !m_backBuffer.IsOk() )
+            m_backBuffer.Create(sz.x, sz.y);
+        dcm.SelectObject(m_backBuffer);
+        dc = &dcm;
     }
 
-    PrepareDC(dcm);
-    dcm.SetMapMode(wxMM_TEXT);
-    dcm.SetBackgroundMode(wxBRUSHSTYLE_TRANSPARENT);
+    PrepareDC(*dc);
+
+    // erase the background: for compatibility, we must generate the event to
+    // allow the user-defined handlers to do it
+    wxEraseEvent eraseEvent(GetId(), dc);
+    eraseEvent.SetEventObject(this);
+    if ( !ProcessWindowEvent(eraseEvent) )
+    {
+        // erase background ourselves
+        DoEraseBackground(*dc);
+    }
+    //else: background erased by the user-defined handler
+
+
+    // draw the HTML window contents
+    dc->SetMapMode(wxMM_TEXT);
+    dc->SetBackgroundMode(wxBRUSHSTYLE_TRANSPARENT);
 
     wxHtmlRenderingInfo rinfo;
     wxDefaultHtmlRenderingStyle rstyle;
     rinfo.SetSelection(m_selection);
     rinfo.SetStyle(&rstyle);
-    m_Cell->Draw(dcm, 0, 0,
+    m_Cell->Draw(*dc, 0, 0,
                  y * wxHTML_SCROLL_STEP + rect.GetTop(),
                  y * wxHTML_SCROLL_STEP + rect.GetBottom(),
                  rinfo);
 
-//#define DEBUG_HTML_SELECTION
 #ifdef DEBUG_HTML_SELECTION
     {
     int xc, yc, x, y;
@@ -1075,27 +1086,30 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::OnPaint(wxPaintEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
     wxHtmlCell *after =
         m_Cell->FindCellByPos(x, y, wxHTML_FIND_NEAREST_AFTER);
 
-    dcm.SetBrush(*wxTRANSPARENT_BRUSH);
-    dcm.SetPen(*wxBLACK_PEN);
+    dc->SetBrush(*wxTRANSPARENT_BRUSH);
+    dc->SetPen(*wxBLACK_PEN);
     if (at)
-        dcm.DrawRectangle(at->GetAbsPos(),
+        dc->DrawRectangle(at->GetAbsPos(),
                           wxSize(at->GetWidth(),at->GetHeight()));
-    dcm.SetPen(*wxGREEN_PEN);
+    dc->SetPen(*wxGREEN_PEN);
     if (before)
-        dcm.DrawRectangle(before->GetAbsPos().x+1, before->GetAbsPos().y+1,
+        dc->DrawRectangle(before->GetAbsPos().x+1, before->GetAbsPos().y+1,
                           before->GetWidth()-2,before->GetHeight()-2);
-    dcm.SetPen(*wxRED_PEN);
+    dc->SetPen(*wxRED_PEN);
     if (after)
-        dcm.DrawRectangle(after->GetAbsPos().x+2, after->GetAbsPos().y+2,
+        dc->DrawRectangle(after->GetAbsPos().x+2, after->GetAbsPos().y+2,
                           after->GetWidth()-4,after->GetHeight()-4);
     }
-#endif
+#endif // DEBUG_HTML_SELECTION
 
-    dcm.SetDeviceOrigin(0,0);
-    dc.Blit(0, rect.GetTop(),
-            sz.x, rect.GetBottom() - rect.GetTop() + 1,
-            &dcm,
-            0, rect.GetTop());
+    if ( dc != &dcPaint )
+    {
+        dc->SetDeviceOrigin(0,0);
+        dcPaint.Blit(0, rect.GetTop(),
+                     sz.x, rect.GetBottom() - rect.GetTop() + 1,
+                     dc,
+                     0, rect.GetTop());
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -1105,7 +1119,7 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::OnSize(wxSizeEvent& event)
 {
     event.Skip();
 
-    wxDELETE(m_backBuffer);
+    m_backBuffer = wxNullBitmap;
 
     CreateLayout();
 
@@ -1567,7 +1581,6 @@ BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(wxHtmlWindow, wxScrolledWindow)
     EVT_LEFT_UP(wxHtmlWindow::OnMouseUp)
     EVT_RIGHT_UP(wxHtmlWindow::OnMouseUp)
     EVT_MOTION(wxHtmlWindow::OnMouseMove)
-    EVT_ERASE_BACKGROUND(wxHtmlWindow::OnEraseBackground)
     EVT_PAINT(wxHtmlWindow::OnPaint)
 #if wxUSE_CLIPBOARD
     EVT_LEFT_DCLICK(wxHtmlWindow::OnDoubleClick)