diff --git a/src/msw/textctrl.cpp b/src/msw/textctrl.cpp
index c40ef670da..9dc6104f23 100644
--- a/src/msw/textctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/textctrl.cpp
@@ -298,6 +298,14 @@ void wxTextCtrl::Init()
 
 wxTextCtrl::~wxTextCtrl()
 {
+#if wxUSE_DRAG_AND_DROP
+    if ( m_dropTarget == wxRICHTEXT_DEFAULT_DROPTARGET )
+    {
+        // don't try to destroy this dummy pointer in the base class dtor
+        m_dropTarget = NULL;
+    }
+#endif // wxUSE_DRAG_AND_DROP
+
     delete m_privateContextMenu;
 }