diff --git a/gui/Tooltip.cpp b/gui/Tooltip.cpp
index 85e5856cffc..88124e782b4 100644
--- a/gui/Tooltip.cpp
+++ b/gui/Tooltip.cpp
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Tooltip::Tooltip() :
 }
 
 void Tooltip::setup(Dialog *parent, Widget *widget, int x, int y) {
-	assert(widget->getTooltip());
+	assert(widget->hasTooltip());
 
 	_maxWidth = g_gui.xmlEval()->getVar("Globals.Tooltip.MaxWidth", 100);
 	_xdelta = g_gui.xmlEval()->getVar("Globals.Tooltip.XDelta", 0);
diff --git a/gui/gui-manager.cpp b/gui/gui-manager.cpp
index abd781e1a38..a0ef4216aa0 100644
--- a/gui/gui-manager.cpp
+++ b/gui/gui-manager.cpp
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ void GuiManager::runLoop() {
 
 		if (tooltipCheck && _lastMousePosition.time + kTooltipDelay < _system->getMillis()) {
 			Widget *wdg = activeDialog->findWidget(_lastMousePosition.x, _lastMousePosition.y);
-			if (wdg && wdg->getTooltip() && !(wdg->getFlags() & WIDGET_PRESSED)) {
+			if (wdg && wdg->hasTooltip() && !(wdg->getFlags() & WIDGET_PRESSED)) {
 				Tooltip *tooltip = new Tooltip();
 				tooltip->setup(activeDialog, wdg, _lastMousePosition.x, _lastMousePosition.y);
 				tooltip->runModal();
diff --git a/gui/widget.h b/gui/widget.h
index 6de56862c3d..d80b2ad7e20 100644
--- a/gui/widget.h
+++ b/gui/widget.h
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ protected:
 	uint16		_id;
 	bool		_hasFocus;
 	ThemeEngine::WidgetStateInfo _state;
-	const char	*_tooltip;
+	Common::String _tooltip;
 
 private:
 	uint16		_flags;
@@ -142,7 +142,9 @@ public:
 	uint8 parseHotkey(const Common::String &label);
 	Common::String cleanupHotkey(const Common::String &label);
 
-	const char *getTooltip() const { return _tooltip; }
+	bool hasTooltip() const { return !_tooltip.empty(); }
+	const Common::String &getTooltip() const { return _tooltip; }
+	void setTooltip(const Common::String &tooltip) { _tooltip = tooltip; }
 
 protected:
 	void updateState(int oldFlags, int newFlags);