diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.cc b/libs/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.cc
index 2011e6968e..24450e3300 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.cc
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.cc
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@
 
 */
 
+#if !defined USE_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE && !defined NDEBUG
+#define OPTIONAL_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+#endif
+
+
 #include "gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.h"
 #include "gtkmm2ext/gtk_ui.h"
 
@@ -26,8 +31,7 @@ CairoIcon::CairoIcon (ArdourIcon::Icon t, uint32_t foreground_color)
 	: icon_type (t)
 	, fg (foreground_color)
 {
-	set_draw_background (false);
-	set_widget_prelight (false);
+	add_events (Gdk::BUTTON_PRESS_MASK|Gdk::BUTTON_RELEASE_MASK);
 }
 
 CairoIcon::~CairoIcon ()
@@ -51,3 +55,61 @@ CairoIcon::render (cairo_t* cr , cairo_rectangle_t* area)
 	ArdourIcon::render (cr, icon_type, width, height, Off, fg);
 }
 
+bool
+CairoIcon::on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose *ev)
+{
+#ifdef OPTIONAL_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> cr;
+	if (getenv("ARDOUR_IMAGE_SURFACE")) {
+		if (!image_surface) {
+			image_surface = Cairo::ImageSurface::create (Cairo::FORMAT_ARGB32, get_width(), get_height());
+		}
+		cr = Cairo::Context::create (image_surface);
+	} else {
+		cr = get_window()->create_cairo_context ();
+	}
+#elif defined USE_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+
+	if (!image_surface) {
+		image_surface = Cairo::ImageSurface::create (Cairo::FORMAT_ARGB32, get_width(), get_height());
+	}
+
+	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> cr = Cairo::Context::create (image_surface);
+#else
+	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> cr = get_window()->create_cairo_context ();
+#endif
+
+	cr->rectangle (ev->area.x, ev->area.y, ev->area.width, ev->area.height);
+	cr->clip ();
+
+	cr->translate (ev->area.x, ev->area.y);
+
+	cairo_rectangle_t expose_area;
+	expose_area.x = ev->area.x;
+	expose_area.y = ev->area.y;
+	expose_area.width = ev->area.width;
+	expose_area.height = ev->area.height;
+
+	CairoIcon::render (cr->cobj(), &expose_area);
+
+#ifdef OPTIONAL_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+	if (getenv("ARDOUR_IMAGE_SURFACE")) {
+#endif
+#if defined USE_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE || defined OPTIONAL_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+	image_surface->flush();
+	/* now blit our private surface back to the GDK one */
+
+	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> cairo_context = get_window()->create_cairo_context ();
+
+	cairo_context->rectangle (ev->area.x, ev->area.y, ev->area.width, ev->area.height);
+	cairo_context->clip ();
+	cairo_context->set_source (image_surface, 0, 0);
+	cairo_context->set_operator (Cairo::OPERATOR_SOURCE);
+	cairo_context->paint ();
+#endif
+#ifdef OPTIONAL_CAIRO_IMAGE_SURFACE
+	}
+#endif
+	
+	return true;
+}
diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.h b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.h
index 7be75861c7..83d0626dc7 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.h
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/cairo_icon.h
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 #ifndef __gtk2_ardour_cairo_icon_h__
 #define __gtk2_ardour_cairo_icon_h__
 
+#include <gtkmm/bin.h>
+
 #include "gtkmm2ext/visibility.h"
-#include "gtkmm2ext/cairo_widget.h"
 #include "gtkmm2ext/ardour_icon.h"
 
 /** A parent class for icons that are rendered using Cairo but need to be
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@
 
 namespace Gtkmm2ext {
 
-class LIBGTKMM2EXT_API CairoIcon : public CairoWidget
+class LIBGTKMM2EXT_API CairoIcon : public Gtk::Bin
 {
 public:
 	CairoIcon (Gtkmm2ext::ArdourIcon::Icon, uint32_t fg = 0x000000ff);
@@ -38,8 +39,11 @@ public:
 
 	void render (cairo_t *, cairo_rectangle_t*);
 	void set_fg (uint32_t fg);
+
+	bool on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose*);
 	
   private:
+	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Surface> image_surface;
 	ArdourIcon::Icon icon_type;
 	uint32_t fg;
 };