diff --git a/include/wx/filename.h b/include/wx/filename.h
index ef108760e2..3906804521 100644
--- a/include/wx/filename.h
+++ b/include/wx/filename.h
@@ -72,7 +72,17 @@ enum wxPathNormalize
     wxPATH_NORM_ABSOLUTE = 0x0010,  // make the path absolute
     wxPATH_NORM_LONG     = 0x0020,  // make the path the long form (MSW-only)
     wxPATH_NORM_SHORTCUT = 0x0040,  // resolve the shortcut, if it is a shortcut
-    wxPATH_NORM_ALL      = 0x00ff & ~wxPATH_NORM_CASE
+
+    // Don't use this constant, it used to correspond to the default
+    // Normalize() behaviour but this is deprecated now.
+    wxPATH_NORM_DEPR_OLD_DEFAULT= 0x00ff & ~wxPATH_NORM_CASE,
+
+    // This constant name is misleading, as it doesn't really include all the
+    // flags above, so its use is discouraged, please use the flags you want
+    // explicitly instead.
+    wxPATH_NORM_ALL
+    wxDEPRECATED_ATTR("specify the wanted flags explicitly to avoid surprises")
+        = wxPATH_NORM_DEPR_OLD_DEFAULT
 };
 
 // what exactly should GetPath() return?
@@ -341,15 +351,21 @@ public:
 
     // operations on the path
 
-        // normalize the path: with the default flags value, the path will be
-        // made absolute, without any ".." and "." and all environment
-        // variables will be expanded in it
+        // normalize the path using the specified normalizations, use
+        // MakeAbsolute() for a simpler form applying the standard ones
         //
         // this may be done using another (than current) value of cwd
-    bool Normalize(int flags = wxPATH_NORM_ALL,
+    bool Normalize(int flags,
                    const wxString& cwd = wxEmptyString,
                    wxPathFormat format = wxPATH_NATIVE);
 
+        // using wxPATH_NORM_ALL may give unexpected results, so avoid using
+        // this function and call Normalize(wxPATH_NORM_ENV_VARS | ...)
+        // explicitly if you really need environment variables expansion
+    wxDEPRECATED_MSG("specify the wanted flags explicitly to avoid surprises")
+    bool Normalize()
+        { return Normalize(wxPATH_NORM_DEPR_OLD_DEFAULT); }
+
         // get a path path relative to the given base directory, i.e. opposite
         // of Normalize
         //
diff --git a/interface/wx/filename.h b/interface/wx/filename.h
index 01642d4d78..3c4842a126 100644
--- a/interface/wx/filename.h
+++ b/interface/wx/filename.h
@@ -54,10 +54,20 @@ enum wxSizeConvention
 */
 enum wxPathNormalize
 {
-    //! Replace environment variables with their values.
-    //! wxFileName understands both Unix and Windows (but only under Windows) environment
-    //! variables expansion: i.e. @c "$var", @c "$(var)" and @c "${var}" are always understood
-    //! and in addition under Windows @c "%var%" is also.
+    /**
+        Replace environment variables with their values.
+
+        wxFileName understands both Unix and Windows (but only under Windows) environment
+        variables expansion: i.e. @c "$var", @c "$(var)" and @c "${var}" are always understood
+        and in addition under Windows @c "%var%" is also.
+
+        Note that when this flag is used, dollar or percent signs may be
+        escaped with backslashes to prevent them from being used for the
+        variable expansion, meaning that normalizing any path with a directory
+        starting with a dollar sign under Windows can give unexpected results,
+        as normalizing @c c:\\foo\\$bar results in @c c:\\foo$bar. Because of
+        this, using this flag with arbitrary paths is not recommended.
+     */
     wxPATH_NORM_ENV_VARS = 0x0001,
 
     wxPATH_NORM_DOTS     = 0x0002,  //!< Squeeze all @c ".." and @c ".".
@@ -80,7 +90,16 @@ enum wxPathNormalize
 
     wxPATH_NORM_SHORTCUT = 0x0040,  //!< Resolve the shortcut, if it is a shortcut (Windows only).
 
-    //! A value indicating all normalization flags except for @c wxPATH_NORM_CASE.
+    /**
+        Flags used by wxFileName::Normalize() by default.
+
+        This includes all normalization flags except for @c wxPATH_NORM_CASE
+        and notably does include @c wxPATH_NORM_ENV_VARS which may yield
+        unexpected results, as described above. Because of this, this flag is
+        deprecated and shouldn't be used in the new code and the existing code
+        should be reviewed to check if expanding environment variables is
+        really needed.
+     */
     wxPATH_NORM_ALL      = 0x00ff & ~wxPATH_NORM_CASE
 };
 
@@ -1080,7 +1099,9 @@ public:
         Normalize the path.
 
         With the default flags value, the path will be made absolute, without
-        any ".." and "." and all environment variables will be expanded in it.
+        any ".." and ".", and, for the Unix format paths, any occurrences of
+        tilde (@c ~) character will be replaced with the home directory of the
+        user following it.
 
         Notice that in some rare cases normalizing a valid path may result in
         an invalid wxFileName object. E.g. normalizing "./" path using
@@ -1091,6 +1112,9 @@ public:
         @param flags
             The kind of normalization to do with the file name. It can be
             any or-combination of the ::wxPathNormalize enumeration values.
+            These values should be explicitly specified, omitting them uses the
+            deprecated wxPATH_NORM_ALL value which is not recommended, see
+            wxPathNormalize enum for more details.
         @param cwd
             If not empty, this directory will be used instead of current
             working directory in normalization (see @c wxPATH_NORM_ABSOLUTE).
@@ -1099,7 +1123,7 @@ public:
 
         @return @true if normalization was successfully or @false otherwise.
     */
-    bool Normalize(int flags = wxPATH_NORM_ALL,
+    bool Normalize(int flags,
                    const wxString& cwd = wxEmptyString,
                    wxPathFormat format = wxPATH_NATIVE);
 
diff --git a/src/common/filename.cpp b/src/common/filename.cpp
index 8688e92a66..f54144cd9b 100644
--- a/src/common/filename.cpp
+++ b/src/common/filename.cpp
@@ -1841,8 +1841,20 @@ bool wxFileName::SameAs(const wxFileName& filepath, wxPathFormat format) const
 
     // get cwd only once - small time saving
     wxString cwd = wxGetCwd();
-    fn1.Normalize(wxPATH_NORM_ALL | wxPATH_NORM_CASE, cwd, format);
-    fn2.Normalize(wxPATH_NORM_ALL | wxPATH_NORM_CASE, cwd, format);
+
+    // apply really all normalizations here
+    const int normAll =
+        wxPATH_NORM_ENV_VARS |
+        wxPATH_NORM_DOTS     |
+        wxPATH_NORM_TILDE    |
+        wxPATH_NORM_CASE     |
+        wxPATH_NORM_ABSOLUTE |
+        wxPATH_NORM_LONG     |
+        wxPATH_NORM_SHORTCUT
+        ;
+
+    fn1.Normalize(normAll, cwd, format);
+    fn2.Normalize(normAll, cwd, format);
 
     if ( fn1.GetFullPath() == fn2.GetFullPath() )
         return true;
diff --git a/tests/filename/filenametest.cpp b/tests/filename/filenametest.cpp
index 73d927d59f..776acfc6ea 100644
--- a/tests/filename/filenametest.cpp
+++ b/tests/filename/filenametest.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@
 #include "testfile.h"
 #include "testdate.h"
 
+// Use a hack to keep using wxPATH_NORM_ALL in this test code without getting
+// deprecation warnings for it.
+#define wxPATH_NORM_ALL wxPATH_NORM_DEPR_OLD_DEFAULT
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // test data
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -317,6 +321,13 @@ TEST_CASE("wxFileName::Normalize", "[filename]")
         { ".\\foo", wxPATH_NORM_LONG, ".\\foo", wxPATH_DOS },
         { "..\\Makefile.in", wxPATH_NORM_LONG, "..\\Makefile.in", wxPATH_DOS },
         { "..\\foo", wxPATH_NORM_LONG, "..\\foo", wxPATH_DOS },
+
+        // test default behaviour with deprecated wxPATH_NORM_ALL
+#ifdef __WINDOWS__
+        { "%ABCDEF%/g/h/i", wxPATH_NORM_ALL, "CWD/abcdef/g/h/i", wxPATH_UNIX },
+#else
+        { "$(ABCDEF)/g/h/i", wxPATH_NORM_ALL, "CWD/abcdef/g/h/i", wxPATH_UNIX },
+#endif
     };
 
     // set the env var ABCDEF