diff --git a/include/wx/frame.h b/include/wx/frame.h
index 8b0d2184a8..80c563728f 100644
--- a/include/wx/frame.h
+++ b/include/wx/frame.h
@@ -210,6 +210,9 @@ protected:
 #if wxUSE_STATUSBAR && (wxUSE_MENUS || wxUSE_TOOLBAR)
     // the saved status bar text overwritten by DoGiveHelp()
     wxString m_oldStatusText;
+
+    // the last help string we have shown in the status bar
+    wxString m_lastHelpShown;
 #endif
 
 #if wxUSE_STATUSBAR
diff --git a/src/common/framecmn.cpp b/src/common/framecmn.cpp
index 9e9de0ac28..7cbe913304 100644
--- a/src/common/framecmn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/framecmn.cpp
@@ -419,12 +419,27 @@ void wxFrameBase::DoGiveHelp(const wxString& help, bool show)
             }
         }
 
+        m_lastHelpShown =
         text = help;
     }
     else // hide help, restore the original text
     {
-        text = m_oldStatusText;
-        m_oldStatusText.clear();
+        // clear the last shown help string but remember its value
+        wxString lastHelpShown;
+        lastHelpShown.swap(m_lastHelpShown);
+
+        // also clear the old status text but remember it too to restore it
+        // below
+        text.swap(m_oldStatusText);
+
+        if ( statbar->GetStatusText(m_statusBarPane) != lastHelpShown )
+        {
+            // if the text was changed with an explicit SetStatusText() call
+            // from the user code in the meanwhile, do not overwrite it with
+            // the old status bar contents -- this is almost certainly not what
+            // the user expects and would be very hard to avoid from user code
+            return;
+        }
     }
 
     statbar->SetStatusText(text, m_statusBarPane);