diff --git a/include/wx/generic/dataview.h b/include/wx/generic/dataview.h
index c2cf345a4c..89b0461623 100644
--- a/include/wx/generic/dataview.h
+++ b/include/wx/generic/dataview.h
@@ -199,6 +199,8 @@ public:
 protected:
     virtual void EnsureVisible( int row, int column );
 
+    // Notice that row here may be invalid (i.e. >= GetRowCount()), this is not
+    // an error and this function simply returns an invalid item in this case.
     virtual wxDataViewItem GetItemByRow( unsigned int row ) const;
     virtual int GetRowByItem( const wxDataViewItem & item ) const;
 
diff --git a/src/generic/datavgen.cpp b/src/generic/datavgen.cpp
index 21c53c66da..716d4b9bf9 100644
--- a/src/generic/datavgen.cpp
+++ b/src/generic/datavgen.cpp
@@ -2970,15 +2970,20 @@ wxDataViewTreeNode * wxDataViewMainWindow::GetTreeNodeByRow(unsigned int row) co
 
 wxDataViewItem wxDataViewMainWindow::GetItemByRow(unsigned int row) const
 {
+    wxDataViewItem item;
     if (IsVirtualList())
     {
-        return wxDataViewItem( wxUIntToPtr(row+1) );
+        if ( row < GetRowCount() )
+            item = wxDataViewItem(wxUIntToPtr(row+1));
     }
     else
     {
         wxDataViewTreeNode *node = GetTreeNodeByRow(row);
-        return node ? node->GetItem() : wxDataViewItem();
+        if ( node )
+            item = node->GetItem();
     }
+
+    return item;
 }
 
 bool