diff --git a/include/wx/msw/app.h b/include/wx/msw/app.h
index b1b65da13e..c5f6c2756d 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/app.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/app.h
@@ -74,6 +74,17 @@ public:
     // in the previous GetRegisteredClassName() calls
     static bool IsRegisteredClassName(const wxString& name);
 
+    // Return the layout direction to use for a window by default.
+    //
+    // If the parent is specified, use the same layout direction as it uses.
+    // Otherwise use the default global layout, either from wxTheApp, if it
+    // exists, or Windows itself.
+    //
+    // Notice that this normally should not be used for the child windows as
+    // they already inherit, just dialogs such as wxMessageDialog may want to
+    // use it.
+    static wxLayoutDirection MSWGetDefaultLayout(wxWindow* parent = NULL);
+
 protected:
     int    m_printMode; // wxPRINT_WINDOWS, wxPRINT_POSTSCRIPT
 
diff --git a/src/msw/app.cpp b/src/msw/app.cpp
index 787e077df6..b62af00565 100644
--- a/src/msw/app.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/app.cpp
@@ -1008,4 +1008,35 @@ terminate the program,\r\n\
     }
 }
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Layout direction
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/* static */
+wxLayoutDirection wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(wxWindow* parent)
+{
+    wxLayoutDirection dir = wxLayout_Default;
+
+    if ( parent )
+        dir = parent->GetLayoutDirection();
+
+    if ( dir == wxLayout_Default )
+    {
+        if ( wxTheApp )
+            dir = wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection();
+    }
+
+    if ( dir == wxLayout_Default )
+    {
+        DWORD dwLayout;
+        if ( ::GetProcessDefaultLayout(&dwLayout) )
+        {
+            dir = dwLayout == LAYOUT_RTL ? wxLayout_RightToLeft
+                                         : wxLayout_LeftToRight;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return dir;
+}
+
 #endif // wxUSE_EXCEPTIONS
diff --git a/src/msw/dc.cpp b/src/msw/dc.cpp
index c18f0edbc6..8c3e241194 100644
--- a/src/msw/dc.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/dc.cpp
@@ -2913,7 +2913,7 @@ void wxMSWDCImpl::SetLayoutDirection(wxLayoutDirection dir)
 {
     if ( dir == wxLayout_Default )
     {
-        dir = wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection();
+        dir = wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(GetWindow());
         if ( dir == wxLayout_Default )
             return;
     }
diff --git a/src/msw/msgdlg.cpp b/src/msw/msgdlg.cpp
index ed3354f4fc..021b59ce11 100644
--- a/src/msw/msgdlg.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/msgdlg.cpp
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ int wxMessageDialog::ShowMessageBox()
         msStyle |= MB_TOPMOST;
 
 #ifndef __WXWINCE__
-    if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+    if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(m_parent) == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
         msStyle |= MB_RTLREADING | MB_RIGHT;
 #endif
 
@@ -552,7 +552,7 @@ int wxMessageDialog::ShowMessageBox()
     // (unfortunately this only works in Unicode builds)
     wxString message = GetFullMessage();
 #if wxUSE_UNICODE
-    if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+    if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(m_parent) == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
     {
         // NB: not all compilers support \u escapes
         static const wchar_t wchRLM = 0x200f;
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ void wxMSWTaskDialogConfig::MSWCommonTaskDialogInit(TASKDIALOGCONFIG &tdc)
     // use the top level window as parent if none specified
     tdc.hwndParent = parent ? GetHwndOf(parent) : NULL;
 
-    if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+    if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(parent) == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
         tdc.dwFlags |= TDF_RTL_LAYOUT;
 
     // If we have both the main and extended messages, just use them as
diff --git a/src/msw/tooltip.cpp b/src/msw/tooltip.cpp
index 394ae2b17f..1ca0a44200 100644
--- a/src/msw/tooltip.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/tooltip.cpp
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ WXHWND wxToolTip::GetToolTipCtrl()
     if ( !ms_hwndTT )
     {
         WXDWORD exflags = 0;
-        if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+        if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
         {
             exflags |= WS_EX_LAYOUTRTL;
         }
diff --git a/src/msw/toplevel.cpp b/src/msw/toplevel.cpp
index 028660b1f6..3fda42856d 100644
--- a/src/msw/toplevel.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/toplevel.cpp
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ bool wxTopLevelWindowMSW::CreateFrame(const wxString& title,
     const wxSize sz = IsAlwaysMaximized() ? wxDefaultSize : size;
 
 #ifndef __WXWINCE__
-    if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+    if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(m_parent) == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
         exflags |= WS_EX_LAYOUTRTL;
 #endif
 
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ bool wxTopLevelWindowMSW::Create(wxWindow *parent,
         dlgTemplate->style |= WS_POPUP;
 
 #ifndef __WXWINCE__
-        if ( wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection() == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
+        if ( wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(m_parent) == wxLayout_RightToLeft )
         {
             dlgTemplate->dwExtendedStyle |= WS_EX_LAYOUTRTL;
         }
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ void wxTopLevelWindowMSW::Restore()
 void wxTopLevelWindowMSW::SetLayoutDirection(wxLayoutDirection dir)
 {
     if ( dir == wxLayout_Default )
-        dir = wxTheApp->GetLayoutDirection();
+        dir = wxApp::MSWGetDefaultLayout(m_parent);
 
     if ( dir != wxLayout_Default )
         wxTopLevelWindowBase::SetLayoutDirection(dir);