diff --git a/rtgui/filecatalog.cc b/rtgui/filecatalog.cc
index f5746a7a7..7d368b4a4 100644
--- a/rtgui/filecatalog.cc
+++ b/rtgui/filecatalog.cc
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ void FileCatalog::refreshAll () {
 }
 
 void FileCatalog::refreshHeight () {
-    int newHeight=fileBrowser->getEffectiveHeight();
+    int newHeight=fileBrowser->getEffectiveHeight() + buttonBar->get_height();
     set_size_request(0, newHeight);
 }
 
diff --git a/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc b/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
index 5cfad1d00..3a92a55f7 100644
--- a/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
+++ b/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
@@ -631,14 +631,15 @@ void ThumbBrowserBase::setScrollPosition (double h, double v) {
 
 // needed for auto-height in single tab
 int ThumbBrowserBase::getEffectiveHeight() { 
-    int h=0;
+    int h=hscroll.get_height() + 2;  // have 2 pixels rounding error for scroll bars to appear
+
 	{
 		// TODO: Check for Linux
 		#ifdef WIN32
 		Glib::Mutex::Lock lock(entryMutex);
 		#endif
 
-    if (fd.size()>0) h=fd[0]->getEffectiveHeight();
+        if (fd.size()>0) h+=fd[0]->getEffectiveHeight();
 	}
 
     return h;
diff --git a/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.h b/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.h
index 4e8b94e79..8cd043899 100644
--- a/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.h
+++ b/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.h
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ protected:
     int getMinimalHeight    () { return height; }
     int getMinimalWidth     () { return width; }
 
-    int getEffectiveHeight  () { return fnlabh+dtlabh+exlabh+textGap+exp_height; }
+    int getEffectiveHeight  () { return exp_height; }
     int getStartX           () { return startx; }
     int getStartY           () { return starty; }