diff --git a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkcallback.inc b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkcallback.inc
index 7800633a8a..77a810185a 100644
--- a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkcallback.inc
+++ b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkcallback.inc
@@ -403,7 +403,6 @@ begin
   LCLMenuItem := TMenuItem(AData);
   // some sanity checks
   if LCLMenuItem = nil then Exit;
-  if not LCLMenuItem.IsCheckItem then Exit; // ???
 
   // the gtk always toggles the check flag
   // -> restore 'checked' flag if needed
diff --git a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkglobals.pp b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkglobals.pp
index 61f2563229..68a244f09a 100644
--- a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkglobals.pp
+++ b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkglobals.pp
@@ -361,7 +361,6 @@ type
 const
   OldCheckMenuItemDrawProc: TCheckMenuItemDrawProc = nil;
   OldMenuSizeRequestProc: TMenuSizeRequestProc = nil;
-  OldCheckMenuItemToggleSize: integer = 0;
 
 
   { Accelerators }
diff --git a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkproc.inc b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkproc.inc
index daa004008a..b7b42e48ef 100644
--- a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkproc.inc
+++ b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkproc.inc
@@ -5964,7 +5964,7 @@ begin
     MenuItem:=PGtkMenuItem(ListItem^.Data);
     if GTK_IS_CHECK_MENU_ITEM(PGtkWidget(MenuItem)) then begin
       CheckMenuItem:=MenuItem;
-      CurToggleSize:=OldCheckMenuItemToggleSize;
+      CurToggleSize:=1;
       LCLMenuItem:=TMenuItem(GetLCLObject(MenuItem));
       if LCLMenuItem<>nil then begin
         IconSize:=LCLMenuItem.GetIconSize(0);
@@ -6113,11 +6113,6 @@ var
           bm_show_toggle_indicator;
           {$ENDIF}
 
-      // set our own draw handler
-      if OldCheckMenuItemDrawProc = nil then
-        OldCheckMenuItemDrawProc := CHECK_MENU_ITEM_CLASS(MenuItemWidget)^.draw_indicator;
-      CHECK_MENU_ITEM_CLASS(MenuItemWidget)^.draw_indicator := @DrawMenuItemIcon;
-
       {$IFNDEF Gtk2}
       // add a dummy widget for the icon height
       MinHeightWidget := gtk_label_new('');
diff --git a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkwsmenus.pp b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkwsmenus.pp
index 16022ffc74..321eed311b 100644
--- a/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkwsmenus.pp
+++ b/lcl/interfaces/gtk/gtkwsmenus.pp
@@ -170,15 +170,23 @@ begin
 
   if GtkWidgetIsA(Widget, GTK_TYPE_CHECK_MENU_ITEM) then
   begin
-    // set 'ShowAlwaysCheckable'
-    gtk_check_menu_item_set_show_toggle(PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget),
-      AMenuItem.ShowAlwaysCheckable);
+    // set 'ShowAlwaysCheckable' (this modifies the always_show_toggle bitfield
+    // in the private _GtkCheckMenuItem - it used to be modifiable by a function
+    // call but in Gtk 1.2.9 and 1.2.10 it became a noop, however aside from
+    // that the rest of the code didn't change
+    if AMenuItem.ShowAlwaysCheckable then
+      PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget)^.flag0:=PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget)^.flag0 or 2
+    else
+      PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget)^.flag0:=PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget)^.flag0 and not 2;
     // set 'Checked'
     gtk_check_menu_item_set_active(PGtkCheckMenuItem(Widget),
       AMenuItem.Checked);
 
-    if (OldCheckMenuItemToggleSize=0) then
-      OldCheckMenuItemToggleSize := MENU_ITEM_CLASS(Widget)^.toggle_size;
+    // always set our own indicator draw handler to ensure the check box is not
+    // drawn for non-checkable menu items
+    if OldCheckMenuItemDrawProc = nil then
+      OldCheckMenuItemDrawProc := CHECK_MENU_ITEM_CLASS(Widget)^.draw_indicator;
+    CHECK_MENU_ITEM_CLASS(Widget)^.draw_indicator := @DrawMenuItemIcon;
 
     g_signal_connect_after(PGTKObject(Widget), 'toggled',
       TGTKSignalFunc(@GTKCheckMenuToggeledCB), Pointer(AMenuItem));