diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.cc b/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.cc
index 5dfa091897..3df05f9512 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.cc
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 */
 
 #include "ardour/plugin_manager.h"
-
+#include "gtkmm2ext/gui_thread.h"
 #include "instrument_selector.h"
 
 #include "i18n.h"
@@ -28,10 +28,39 @@ using namespace ARDOUR;
 InstrumentSelector::InstrumentSelector()
 	: _reasonable_synth_id(0)
 {
+	refill ();
+
+	PluginManager::instance ().PluginListChanged.connect (_update_connection, invalidator (*this), boost::bind (&InstrumentSelector::refill, this), gui_context());
+}
+
+void
+InstrumentSelector::refill()
+{
+	TreeModel::iterator iter = get_active();
+	std::string selected;
+	if (iter) {
+		const TreeModel::Row& row = (*iter);
+		selected = row[_instrument_list_columns.name];
+	}
+
+	unset_model ();
+	clear ();
 	build_instrument_list();
 	set_model(_instrument_list);
 	pack_start(_instrument_list_columns.name);
-	set_active(_reasonable_synth_id);
+	if (selected.empty ()) {
+		set_active(_reasonable_synth_id);
+	} else {
+		TreeModel::Children rows = _instrument_list->children();
+		TreeModel::Children::iterator i;
+		for (i = rows.begin(); i != rows.end(); ++i) {
+			std::string cn = (*i)[_instrument_list_columns.name];
+			if (cn == selected) {
+				set_active(*i);
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	set_button_sensitivity(Gtk::SENSITIVITY_AUTO);
 }
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.h b/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.h
index 81beff6ffb..7fe6c8cbf2 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/instrument_selector.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 #include <gtkmm/treemodel.h>
 #include <gtkmm/liststore.h>
 
+#include "pbd/signals.h"
+
 #include "ardour/plugin.h"
 #include "ardour/types.h"
 #include "ardour/template_utils.h"
@@ -52,10 +54,12 @@ private:
 	};
 
 	void build_instrument_list();
+	void refill();
 
 	Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::ListStore> _instrument_list;
 	InstrumentListColumns        _instrument_list_columns;
 	uint32_t                     _reasonable_synth_id;
+	PBD::ScopedConnection        _update_connection;
 };
 
 #endif /* __gtk_ardour_instrument_selector_h__ */