diff --git a/src/msw/taskbar.cpp b/src/msw/taskbar.cpp
index b95bd215c2..3ed327f627 100644
--- a/src/msw/taskbar.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/taskbar.cpp
@@ -143,10 +143,11 @@ bool wxTaskBarIcon::SetIcon(const wxIcon& icon, const wxString& tooltip)
         notifyData.hIcon = GetHiconOf(icon);
     }
 
+    // set NIF_TIP even for an empty tooltip: otherwise it would be impossible
+    // to remove an existing tooltip using this function
+    notifyData.uFlags |= NIF_TIP;
     if ( !tooltip.empty() )
     {
-        notifyData.uFlags |= NIF_TIP;
-//        lstrcpyn(notifyData.szTip, tooltip.c_str(), WXSIZEOF(notifyData.szTip));
         wxStrncpy(notifyData.szTip, tooltip.c_str(), WXSIZEOF(notifyData.szTip));
     }