diff --git a/include/wx/control.h b/include/wx/control.h
index 5427a2d4aa..9fa7a65c21 100644
--- a/include/wx/control.h
+++ b/include/wx/control.h
@@ -131,6 +131,13 @@ public:
     static int FindAccelIndex(const wxString& label,
                               wxString *labelOnly = NULL);
 
+    // this is a helper for the derived class GetClassDefaultAttributes()
+    // implementation: it returns the right colours for the classes which
+    // contain something else (e.g. wxListBox, wxTextCtrl, ...) instead of
+    // being simple controls (such as wxButton, wxCheckBox, ...)
+    static wxVisualAttributes
+        GetCompositeControlsDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant variant);
+
 protected:
     // choose the default border for this window
     virtual wxBorder GetDefaultBorder() const;
diff --git a/include/wx/msw/control.h b/include/wx/msw/control.h
index 3288843c97..01d09f4832 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/control.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/control.h
@@ -122,13 +122,6 @@ protected:
     // one
     virtual WXHBRUSH DoMSWControlColor(WXHDC pDC, wxColour colBg, WXHWND hWnd);
 
-    // this is a helper for the derived class GetClassDefaultAttributes()
-    // implementation: it returns the right colours for the classes which
-    // contain something else (e.g. wxListBox, wxTextCtrl, ...) instead of
-    // being simple controls (such as wxButton, wxCheckBox, ...)
-    static wxVisualAttributes
-        GetCompositeControlsDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant variant);
-
     // for controls like radiobuttons which are really composite this array
     // holds the ids (not HWNDs!) of the sub controls
     wxArrayLong m_subControls;
diff --git a/src/common/ctrlcmn.cpp b/src/common/ctrlcmn.cpp
index 374d2d49a3..f6dbd6eb2d 100644
--- a/src/common/ctrlcmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/ctrlcmn.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     #include "wx/statbmp.h"
     #include "wx/bitmap.h"
     #include "wx/utils.h"       // for wxStripMenuCodes()
+    #include "wx/settings.h"
 #endif
 
 const char wxControlNameStr[] = "control";
@@ -217,6 +218,17 @@ wxBorder wxControlBase::GetDefaultBorder() const
     return wxBORDER_THEME;
 }
 
+/* static */ wxVisualAttributes
+wxControlBase::GetCompositeControlsDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant WXUNUSED(variant))
+{
+    wxVisualAttributes attrs;
+    attrs.font = wxSystemSettings::GetFont(wxSYS_DEFAULT_GUI_FONT);
+    attrs.colFg = wxSystemSettings::GetColour(wxSYS_COLOUR_WINDOWTEXT);
+    attrs.colBg = wxSystemSettings::GetColour(wxSYS_COLOUR_WINDOW);
+
+    return attrs;
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // wxControlBase - ellipsization code
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/msw/control.cpp b/src/msw/control.cpp
index 46854f5c23..c573e4a29a 100644
--- a/src/msw/control.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/control.cpp
@@ -303,18 +303,6 @@ wxControl::GetClassDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant WXUNUSED(variant))
     return attrs;
 }
 
-// another version for the "composite", i.e. non simple controls
-/* static */ wxVisualAttributes
-wxControl::GetCompositeControlsDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant WXUNUSED(variant))
-{
-    wxVisualAttributes attrs;
-    attrs.font = wxSystemSettings::GetFont(wxSYS_DEFAULT_GUI_FONT);
-    attrs.colFg = wxSystemSettings::GetColour(wxSYS_COLOUR_WINDOWTEXT);
-    attrs.colBg = wxSystemSettings::GetColour(wxSYS_COLOUR_WINDOW);
-
-    return attrs;
-}
-
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // message handling
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------