diff --git a/docs/changes.txt b/docs/changes.txt
index 155f872e8d..9fff4549f4 100644
--- a/docs/changes.txt
+++ b/docs/changes.txt
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Major new features in 2.8 release
 All (GUI):
 
 - Added wxWindow::GetNextSibling() and GetPrevSibling()
+- Support wxGRID_AUTOSIZE in wxGrid::SetRow/ColLabelSize() (Evgeniy Tarassov)
 
 All (Unix):
 
diff --git a/docs/latex/wx/grid.tex b/docs/latex/wx/grid.tex
index 22d35e8019..87a6b6caad 100644
--- a/docs/latex/wx/grid.tex
+++ b/docs/latex/wx/grid.tex
@@ -1596,6 +1596,10 @@ Vertical alignment should be one of wxALIGN\_TOP, wxALIGN\_CENTRE or wxALIGN\_BO
 
 Sets the height of the column labels.
 
+If \arg{height} equals to \textt{wxGRID\_AUTOSIZE} then height is calculated
+automatically so that no label is truncated. Note that this could be slow for a
+large table. This flag is new since wxWidgets version 2.8.8.
+
 
 
 \membersection{wxGrid::SetColLabelValue}\label{wxgridsetcollabelvalue}
@@ -1835,6 +1839,10 @@ Vertical alignment should be one of wxALIGN\_TOP, wxALIGN\_CENTRE or wxALIGN\_BO
 
 Sets the width of the row labels.
 
+If \arg{width} equals \textt{wxGRID\_AUTOSIZE} then width is calculated
+automatically so that no label is truncated. Note that this could be slow for a
+large table. This flag is new since wxWidgets version 2.8.8.
+
 
 
 \membersection{wxGrid::SetRowLabelValue}\label{wxgridsetrowlabelvalue}
diff --git a/include/wx/generic/grid.h b/include/wx/generic/grid.h
index a08efaa371..e015b7c3e8 100644
--- a/include/wx/generic/grid.h
+++ b/include/wx/generic/grid.h
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ extern WXDLLIMPEXP_DATA_ADV(const wxChar) wxGridNameStr[];
 #define wxGRID_VALUE_TEXT wxGRID_VALUE_STRING
 #define wxGRID_VALUE_LONG wxGRID_VALUE_NUMBER
 
+#if wxABI_VERSION >= 20808
+    // magic constant which tells (to some functions) to automatically
+    // calculate the appropriate size
+    #define wxGRID_AUTOSIZE (-1)
+#endif // wxABI_VERSION >= 20808
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // forward declarations
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1996,6 +2002,10 @@ protected:
     bool GetModelValues();
     bool SetModelValues();
 
+private:
+    // Calculate the minimum acceptable size for labels area
+    wxCoord CalcColOrRowLabelAreaMinSize(bool column /* or row? */);
+
     friend class WXDLLIMPEXP_ADV wxGridSelection;
 
     DECLARE_DYNAMIC_CLASS( wxGrid )
diff --git a/src/generic/grid.cpp b/src/generic/grid.cpp
index 251860415a..76af28f3df 100644
--- a/src/generic/grid.cpp
+++ b/src/generic/grid.cpp
@@ -9374,7 +9374,13 @@ wxString wxGrid::GetColLabelValue( int col )
 
 void wxGrid::SetRowLabelSize( int width )
 {
-    width = wxMax( width, 0 );
+    wxASSERT( width >= 0 || width == wxGRID_AUTOSIZE );
+
+    if ( width == wxGRID_AUTOSIZE )
+    {
+        width = CalcColOrRowLabelAreaMinSize(false/*row*/);
+    }
+
     if ( width != m_rowLabelWidth )
     {
         if ( width == 0 )
@@ -9397,7 +9403,13 @@ void wxGrid::SetRowLabelSize( int width )
 
 void wxGrid::SetColLabelSize( int height )
 {
-    height = wxMax( height, 0 );
+    wxASSERT( height >=0 || height == wxGRID_AUTOSIZE );
+
+    if ( height == wxGRID_AUTOSIZE )
+    {
+        height = CalcColOrRowLabelAreaMinSize(true/*column*/);
+    }
+
     if ( height != m_colLabelHeight )
     {
         if ( height == 0 )
@@ -10555,6 +10567,58 @@ void wxGrid::AutoSizeColOrRow( int colOrRow, bool setAsMin, bool column )
     }
 }
 
+wxCoord wxGrid::CalcColOrRowLabelAreaMinSize(bool column)
+{
+    // calculate size for the rows or columns?
+    const bool calcRows = !column;
+
+    wxClientDC dc(calcRows ? GetGridRowLabelWindow()
+                           : GetGridColLabelWindow());
+    dc.SetFont(GetLabelFont());
+
+    // which dimension should we take into account for calculations?
+    //
+    // for columns, the text can be only horizontal so it's easy but for rows
+    // we also have to take into account the text orientation
+    const bool
+        useWidth = calcRows || (GetColLabelTextOrientation() == wxVERTICAL);
+
+    wxArrayString lines;
+    wxCoord extentMax = 0;
+
+    const int numRowsOrCols = calcRows ? m_numRows : m_numCols;
+    for ( int rowOrCol = 0; rowOrCol < numRowsOrCols; rowOrCol++ )
+    {
+        lines.Clear();
+        StringToLines(calcRows ? GetRowLabelValue(rowOrCol)
+                               : GetColLabelValue(rowOrCol),
+                      lines);
+
+        long w, h;
+        GetTextBoxSize(dc, lines, &w, &h);
+
+        const wxCoord extent = useWidth ? w : h;
+        if ( extent > extentMax )
+            extentMax = extent;
+    }
+
+    if ( !extentMax )
+    {
+        // empty column - give default extent (notice that if extentMax is less
+        // than default extent but != 0, it's OK)
+        extentMax = calcRows ? GetDefaultRowLabelSize()
+                             : GetDefaultColLabelSize();
+    }
+
+    // leave some space around text (taken from AutoSizeColOrRow)
+    if ( calcRows )
+        extentMax += 10;
+    else
+        extentMax += 6;
+
+    return extentMax;
+}
+
 int wxGrid::SetOrCalcColumnSizes(bool calcOnly, bool setAsMin)
 {
     int width = m_rowLabelWidth;