diff --git a/include/wx/apptrait.h b/include/wx/apptrait.h
index f93b90a621..c7d99aae0f 100644
--- a/include/wx/apptrait.h
+++ b/include/wx/apptrait.h
@@ -88,6 +88,16 @@ public:
     // return true to suppress subsequent asserts, false to continue as before
     virtual bool ShowAssertDialog(const wxString& msg) = 0;
 
+    // show the message safely to the user, i.e. show it in a message box if
+    // possible (even in a console application!) or return false if we can't do
+    // it (e.g. GUI is not initialized at all)
+    //
+    // note that this function can be called even when wxApp doesn't exist, as
+    // it's supposed to be always safe to call -- hence the name
+    //
+    // return true if the message box was shown, false if nothing was done
+    virtual bool SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text, const wxString& title) = 0;
+
     // return true if fprintf(stderr) goes somewhere, false otherwise
     virtual bool HasStderr() = 0;
 
@@ -208,6 +218,8 @@ public:
 
     virtual bool ShowAssertDialog(const wxString& msg) wxOVERRIDE;
     virtual bool HasStderr() wxOVERRIDE;
+    virtual bool SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text,
+                                const wxString& title) wxOVERRIDE;
 
     // the GetToolkitVersion for console application is always the same
     wxPortId GetToolkitVersion(int *verMaj = NULL,
@@ -248,6 +260,13 @@ public:
     virtual bool ShowAssertDialog(const wxString& msg) wxOVERRIDE;
     virtual bool HasStderr() wxOVERRIDE;
 
+    // Win32 has its own implementation using native message box directly in
+    // the base class, don't override it.
+#ifndef __WIN32__
+    virtual bool SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text,
+                                const wxString& title) wxOVERRIDE;
+#endif // !__WIN32__
+
     virtual bool IsUsingUniversalWidgets() const wxOVERRIDE
     {
     #ifdef __WXUNIVERSAL__
diff --git a/include/wx/msw/apptbase.h b/include/wx/msw/apptbase.h
index c6d6ce4b45..2dea2f5eed 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/apptbase.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/apptbase.h
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ public:
     // return the main application window or 0 if none
     virtual WXHWND GetMainHWND() const = 0;
 
+    // implement this base class function for both console and GUI applications
+    virtual bool SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text,
+                                const wxString& title) wxOVERRIDE;
+
 protected:
 #if wxUSE_THREADS
     // implementation of WaitForThread() for the console applications which is
diff --git a/interface/wx/apptrait.h b/interface/wx/apptrait.h
index 9eff45d838..776c18e0ee 100644
--- a/interface/wx/apptrait.h
+++ b/interface/wx/apptrait.h
@@ -133,5 +133,28 @@ public:
         Returns @true to suppress subsequent asserts, @false to continue as before.
     */
     virtual bool ShowAssertDialog(const wxString& msg) = 0;
+
+    /**
+        Shows a message box with the given text and title if possible.
+
+        In some ports, e.g. wxMSW, a message box will always be shown, while in
+        the other ones it will be only done if the GUI is available (e.g. X11
+        display was successfully opened for X11-based ports) and the function
+        simply returns @false without doing anything otherwise.
+
+        This function is safe in the sense that it can always be called, even
+        before creating wxApp, similarly to wxSafeShowMessage() which is
+        implemented by calling this function and then logging the message to
+        standard error stream if it returned @false.
+
+        @since 3.1.5
+
+        @param text
+            The text to show to the user.
+        @param title
+            The title of the message box shown to the user.
+        @return @true if the message box was shown or @false otherwise.
+     */
+    virtual bool SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text, const wxString& title) = 0;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/common/appbase.cpp b/src/common/appbase.cpp
index af819469b2..c613393b90 100644
--- a/src/common/appbase.cpp
+++ b/src/common/appbase.cpp
@@ -944,6 +944,14 @@ bool wxConsoleAppTraitsBase::HasStderr()
     return true;
 }
 
+bool wxConsoleAppTraitsBase::SafeMessageBox(const wxString& WXUNUSED(text),
+                                            const wxString& WXUNUSED(title))
+{
+    // console applications don't show message boxes by default, although this
+    // can be done in platform-specific cases
+    return false;
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // wxAppTraits
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/common/appcmn.cpp b/src/common/appcmn.cpp
index d257599f42..404429d4ff 100644
--- a/src/common/appcmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/appcmn.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     #include "wx/window.h"
     #include "wx/bitmap.h"
     #include "wx/log.h"
+    #include "wx/module.h"
     #include "wx/msgdlg.h"
     #include "wx/confbase.h"
     #include "wx/utils.h"
@@ -584,3 +585,21 @@ bool wxGUIAppTraitsBase::HasStderr()
 #endif
 }
 
+#ifndef __WIN32__
+
+bool wxGUIAppTraitsBase::SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text,
+                                        const wxString& title)
+{
+    // The modules are initialized only after a successful call to
+    // wxApp::Initialize() in wxEntryStart, so it can be used as a proxy for
+    // GUI availability (note that the mere existence of wxTheApp is not enough
+    // for this).
+    if ( !wxModule::AreInitialized() )
+        return false;
+
+    wxMessageBox(text, title, wxOK | wxICON_ERROR);
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+#endif // !__WIN32__
diff --git a/src/common/log.cpp b/src/common/log.cpp
index 463deb04f7..c5ab359fd0 100644
--- a/src/common/log.cpp
+++ b/src/common/log.cpp
@@ -182,34 +182,11 @@ private:
 
 void wxSafeShowMessage(const wxString& title, const wxString& text)
 {
-#ifdef __WINDOWS__
-    const wxAppTraits* const traits = wxApp::GetTraitsIfExists();
-    const HWND hwndParent = traits ? traits->GetMainHWND() : NULL;
-    int flags = MB_OK | MB_ICONSTOP;
-
-    // Using MB_TASKMODAL with valid parent doesn't work well because it
-    // prevents the typical behaviour of modal message boxes, e.g. the message
-    // box doesn't come up to front when the parent is clicked. But if we don't
-    // have any parent anyhow, we can just as well use it, as we don't lose
-    // anything and it has a useful side effect of disabling any existing TLWs
-    // if there are any.
-    //
-    // Note that we also might have chosen to always use MB_TASKMODAL and NULL
-    // parent. This would have the advantage of always disabling all the window
-    // which, but at the cost of the behaviour mentioned above and other
-    // related problems, e.g. showing ugly default icon in Alt-Tab list and an
-    // extra taskbar button for the message box, so we don't do this, although
-    // perhaps we still should, at least in case when there is more than one
-    // TLW (but we can't check for this easily as this is non-GUI code and
-    // wxTopLevelWindows is not accessible from it).
-    if ( !hwndParent )
-        flags |= MB_TASKMODAL;
-
-    ::MessageBox(hwndParent, text.t_str(), title.t_str(), flags);
-#else
-    wxFprintf(stderr, wxS("%s: %s\n"), title.c_str(), text.c_str());
-    fflush(stderr);
-#endif
+    if ( !wxApp::GetValidTraits().SafeMessageBox(text, title) )
+    {
+        wxFprintf(stderr, wxS("%s: %s\n"), title.c_str(), text.c_str());
+        fflush(stderr);
+    }
 }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/msw/basemsw.cpp b/src/msw/basemsw.cpp
index ce270b73bc..7623bab46a 100644
--- a/src/msw/basemsw.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/basemsw.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,35 @@
 // wxAppTraits implementation
 // ============================================================================
 
+bool wxAppTraits::SafeMessageBox(const wxString& text,
+                                 const wxString& title)
+{
+    const HWND hwndParent = GetMainHWND();
+    int flags = MB_OK | MB_ICONSTOP;
+
+    // Using MB_TASKMODAL with valid parent doesn't work well because it
+    // prevents the typical behaviour of modal message boxes, e.g. the message
+    // box doesn't come up to front when the parent is clicked. But if we don't
+    // have any parent anyhow, we can just as well use it, as we don't lose
+    // anything and it has a useful side effect of disabling any existing TLWs
+    // if there are any.
+    //
+    // Note that we also might have chosen to always use MB_TASKMODAL and NULL
+    // parent. This would have the advantage of always disabling all the window
+    // which, but at the cost of the behaviour mentioned above and other
+    // related problems, e.g. showing ugly default icon in Alt-Tab list and an
+    // extra taskbar button for the message box, so we don't do this, although
+    // perhaps we still should, at least in case when there is more than one
+    // TLW (but we can't check for this easily as this is non-GUI code and
+    // wxTopLevelWindows is not accessible from it).
+    if ( !hwndParent )
+        flags |= MB_TASKMODAL;
+
+    ::MessageBox(hwndParent, text.t_str(), title.t_str(), flags);
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 #if wxUSE_THREADS
 WXDWORD wxAppTraits::DoSimpleWaitForThread(WXHANDLE hThread)
 {