diff --git a/include/wx/dvrenderers.h b/include/wx/dvrenderers.h
index 4de42f3b14..f1b3fc1c04 100644
--- a/include/wx/dvrenderers.h
+++ b/include/wx/dvrenderers.h
@@ -155,6 +155,15 @@ public:
 
     wxString GetVariantType() const             { return m_variantType; }
 
+    // Check if the given variant type is compatible with the type expected by
+    // this renderer: by default, just compare it with GetVariantType(), but
+    // can be overridden to accept other types that can be converted to the
+    // type needed by the renderer.
+    virtual bool IsCompatibleVariantType(const wxString& variantType) const
+    {
+        return variantType == GetVariantType();
+    }
+
     // Prepare for rendering the value of the corresponding item in the given
     // column taken from the provided non-null model.
     //
@@ -163,8 +172,9 @@ public:
     // it and should probably be removed in the future.
     //
     // Return true if this cell is non-empty or false otherwise (and also if
-    // the model returned a value of the wrong, i.e. different from our
-    // GetVariantType(), type, in which case a debug error is also logged).
+    // the model returned a value of the wrong type, i.e. such that our
+    // IsCompatibleVariantType() returned false for it, in which case a debug
+    // error is also logged).
     bool PrepareForItem(const wxDataViewModel *model,
                         const wxDataViewItem& item,
                         unsigned column);
diff --git a/interface/wx/dataview.h b/interface/wx/dataview.h
index fa26279b2c..563a6ad1b4 100644
--- a/interface/wx/dataview.h
+++ b/interface/wx/dataview.h
@@ -2064,6 +2064,19 @@ public:
     */
     wxString GetVariantType() const;
 
+    /**
+        Check if the given variant type is compatible with the type expected by
+        this renderer.
+
+        The base class implementation just compares @a variantType with the
+        value returned by GetVariantType(), but this function can be overridden
+        to accept other types that can be converted to the type needed by the
+        renderer.
+
+        @since 3.1.7
+     */
+    virtual bool IsCompatibleVariantType(const wxString& variantType) const;
+
     /**
         Sets the alignment of the renderer's content.
         The default value of @c wxDVR_DEFAULT_ALIGNMENT indicates that the content
diff --git a/src/common/datavcmn.cpp b/src/common/datavcmn.cpp
index db60a89eda..10ce375710 100644
--- a/src/common/datavcmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/datavcmn.cpp
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ wxDataViewRendererBase::CheckedGetValue(const wxDataViewModel* model,
     // We always allow the cell to be null, regardless of the renderer type.
     if ( !value.IsNull() )
     {
-        if ( value.GetType() != GetVariantType() )
+        if ( !IsCompatibleVariantType(value.GetType()) )
         {
             // If you're seeing this message, this indicates that either your
             // renderer is using the wrong type, or your model returns values