diff --git a/include/wx/compositewin.h b/include/wx/compositewin.h
index 48d0ae344e..ec26a414b5 100644
--- a/include/wx/compositewin.h
+++ b/include/wx/compositewin.h
@@ -33,17 +33,6 @@ class wxCompositeWindow : public W
 public:
     typedef W BaseWindowClass;
 
-    // Default ctor doesn't do anything.
-    wxCompositeWindow()
-    {
-        this->Connect
-              (
-                  wxEVT_CREATE,
-                  wxWindowCreateEventHandler(wxCompositeWindow::OnWindowCreate)
-              );
-
-    }
-
     // Override all wxWindow methods which must be forwarded to the composite
     // window parts.
 
@@ -136,6 +125,17 @@ public:
         wxSetFocusToChild(this, NULL);
     }
 
+protected:
+    // Default ctor sets things up for handling children events correctly.
+    wxCompositeWindow()
+    {
+        this->Connect
+              (
+                  wxEVT_CREATE,
+                  wxWindowCreateEventHandler(wxCompositeWindow::OnWindowCreate)
+              );
+    }
+
 private:
     // Must be implemented by the derived class to return all children to which
     // the public methods we override should forward to.