diff --git a/src/msw/listctrl.cpp b/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
index 9e23d1db3f..f05ea49fb8 100644
--- a/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/listctrl.cpp
@@ -1162,6 +1162,10 @@ bool wxListCtrl::GetSubItemRect(long item, long subItem, wxRect& rect, int code)
                     (subItem >= 0 && subItem < GetColumnCount()),
                  false, _T("invalid sub item index") );
 
+    // use wxCHECK_MSG against "item" too, for coherency with the generic implementation:
+    wxCHECK_MSG( item >= 0 && item < GetItemCount(), false,
+                 _T("invalid item in GetSubItemRect") );
+
     int codeWin;
     if ( code == wxLIST_RECT_BOUNDS )
         codeWin = LVIR_BOUNDS;
diff --git a/tests/controls/listctrltest.cpp b/tests/controls/listctrltest.cpp
index 6c88105420..5e615eb283 100644
--- a/tests/controls/listctrltest.cpp
+++ b/tests/controls/listctrltest.cpp
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ void ListCtrlTestCase::ItemRect()
 
     // do test
     wxRect r;
-    //CPPUNIT_ASSERT( !m_list->GetItemRect(1, r) );   this asserts as item #1 does not exist
+    WX_ASSERT_FAILS_WITH_ASSERT( m_list->GetItemRect(1, r) );
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT( m_list->GetItemRect(0, r) );
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL( 150, r.GetWidth() );