diff --git a/include/wx/filehistory.h b/include/wx/filehistory.h
index 96b90abe7c..123b0115d2 100644
--- a/include/wx/filehistory.h
+++ b/include/wx/filehistory.h
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ private:
     // this to ensure the same normalization is used everywhere.
     static wxString NormalizeFileName(const wxFileName& filename);
 
+    // Remove any existing entries from the associated menus.
+    void RemoveExistingHistory();
+
     wxDECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(wxFileHistoryBase);
 };
 
diff --git a/src/common/filehistorycmn.cpp b/src/common/filehistorycmn.cpp
index 176923d972..75bf1118b5 100644
--- a/src/common/filehistorycmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/filehistorycmn.cpp
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ void wxFileHistoryBase::RemoveMenu(wxMenu *menu)
 #if wxUSE_CONFIG
 void wxFileHistoryBase::Load(const wxConfigBase& config)
 {
+    RemoveExistingHistory();
+
     m_fileHistory.Clear();
 
     wxString buf;
@@ -275,4 +277,31 @@ void wxFileHistoryBase::AddFilesToMenu(wxMenu* menu)
     }
 }
 
+void wxFileHistoryBase::RemoveExistingHistory()
+{
+    size_t count = m_fileHistory.GetCount();
+    if ( !count )
+        return;
+
+    for ( wxList::compatibility_iterator node = m_fileMenus.GetFirst();
+          node;
+          node = node->GetNext() )
+    {
+        wxMenu * const menu = static_cast<wxMenu *>(node->GetData());
+
+        // Notice that we remove count+1 items from the menu as we also remove
+        // the separator preceding them.
+        for ( size_t n = 0; n <= count; n++ )
+        {
+            const wxMenuItemList::compatibility_iterator
+                nodeLast = menu->GetMenuItems().GetLast();
+            if ( nodeLast )
+            {
+                wxMenuItem * const lastMenuItem = nodeLast->GetData();
+                menu->Delete(lastMenuItem);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #endif // wxUSE_FILE_HISTORY