diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
index cdb0901313..e2edc24bbc 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
@@ -105,3 +105,19 @@ CairoWidget::set_visual_state (Gtkmm2ext::VisualState s)
 		StateChanged ();
 	}
 }
+
+void
+CairoWidget::on_state_changed (Gtk::StateType)
+{
+	/* this will catch GTK-level state changes from calls like
+	   ::set_sensitive() 
+	*/
+
+	if (get_state() == Gtk::STATE_INSENSITIVE) {
+		set_visual_state (Gtkmm2ext::VisualState (visual_state() | Gtkmm2ext::Insensitive));
+	} else {
+		set_visual_state (Gtkmm2ext::VisualState (visual_state() & ~Gtkmm2ext::Insensitive));
+	}
+
+	queue_draw ();
+}
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
index 7cdaf66efe..d3eac0bb02 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ protected:
 	virtual void render (cairo_t *) = 0;
 	virtual bool on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose *);
 	void on_size_allocate (Gtk::Allocation &);
+	void on_state_changed (Gtk::StateType);
 	Gdk::Color get_parent_bg ();
 
 	int _width; ///< pixmap width