diff --git a/include/wx/control.h b/include/wx/control.h
index 62ea97b1b3..b891236e4a 100644
--- a/include/wx/control.h
+++ b/include/wx/control.h
@@ -77,6 +77,17 @@ protected:
     // initialize the common fields of wxCommandEvent
     void InitCommandEvent(wxCommandEvent& event) const;
 
+    // set the initial window size if none is given (i.e. at least one of the
+    // components of the size passed to ctor/Create() is -1)
+    //
+    // normally just calls SetBestSize() but can be overridden not to do it for
+    // the controls which have to do some additional initialization (e.g. add
+    // strings to list box) before their best size can be accurately calculated
+    virtual void SetInitialBestSize(const wxSize& size)
+    {
+        SetBestSize(size);
+    }
+
     DECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(wxControlBase)
 };
 
diff --git a/src/msw/control.cpp b/src/msw/control.cpp
index 3b60836933..a4b4718831 100644
--- a/src/msw/control.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/control.cpp
@@ -171,10 +171,7 @@ bool wxControl::MSWCreateControl(const wxChar *classname,
     SetFont(GetDefaultAttributes().font);
 
     // set the size now if no initial size specified
-    if ( w <= 0 || h <= 0 )
-    {
-        SetBestSize(size);
-    }
+    SetInitialBestSize(size);
 
     return TRUE;
 }