diff --git a/src/gtk/dialog.cpp b/src/gtk/dialog.cpp
index 2cdf18098f..c30d349e3f 100644
--- a/src/gtk/dialog.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/dialog.cpp
@@ -169,12 +169,19 @@ int wxDialog::ShowModal()
 
     wxOpenModalDialogLocker modalLock;
 
+    // Prevent the widget from being destroyed if the user closes the window.
+    // Needed for derived classes which bypass wxTLW::Create(), and therefore
+    // the wxTLW "delete-event" handler is not connected
+    gulong handler_id = g_signal_connect(
+        m_widget, "delete-event", G_CALLBACK(gtk_true), this);
+
     // Run modal dialog event loop.
     {
         wxGUIEventLoopTiedPtr modal(&m_modalLoop, new wxGUIEventLoop());
         m_modalLoop->Run();
     }
 
+    g_signal_handler_disconnect(m_widget, handler_id);
 #if GTK_CHECK_VERSION(2,10,0)
     if (sigId)
         g_signal_remove_emission_hook(sigId, hookId);
diff --git a/src/gtk/dirdlg.cpp b/src/gtk/dirdlg.cpp
index 3ae28c4815..dc88826163 100644
--- a/src/gtk/dirdlg.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/dirdlg.cpp
@@ -103,14 +103,6 @@ bool wxDirDialog::Create(wxWindow* parent,
     }
 #endif
 
-    // gtk_widget_hide_on_delete is used here to avoid that Gtk automatically destroys
-    // the dialog when the user press ESC on the dialog: in that case a second call to
-    // ShowModal() would result in a bunch of Gtk-CRITICAL errors...
-    g_signal_connect (m_widget,
-                    "delete_event",
-                    G_CALLBACK (gtk_widget_hide_on_delete),
-                    (gpointer)this);
-
     // local-only property could be set to false to allow non-local files to be loaded.
     // In that case get/set_uri(s) should be used instead of get/set_filename(s) everywhere
     // and the GtkFileChooserDialog should probably also be created with a backend,
diff --git a/src/gtk/filedlg.cpp b/src/gtk/filedlg.cpp
index ce41843b03..e6f6320b86 100644
--- a/src/gtk/filedlg.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/filedlg.cpp
@@ -237,15 +237,6 @@ bool wxFileDialog::Create(wxWindow *parent, const wxString& message,
     if ( style & wxFD_MULTIPLE )
         gtk_file_chooser_set_select_multiple(file_chooser, true);
 
-    // gtk_widget_hide_on_delete is used here to avoid that Gtk automatically
-    // destroys the dialog when the user press ESC on the dialog: in that case
-    // a second call to ShowModal() would result in a bunch of Gtk-CRITICAL
-    // errors...
-    g_signal_connect(m_widget,
-                    "delete_event",
-                    G_CALLBACK (gtk_widget_hide_on_delete),
-                    this);
-
     // local-only property could be set to false to allow non-local files to be
     // loaded. In that case get/set_uri(s) should be used instead of
     // get/set_filename(s) everywhere and the GtkFileChooserDialog should