diff --git a/docs/reference/gtk/gtk-sections.txt b/docs/reference/gtk/gtk-sections.txt
index bf9c664b75..3ffd3a6958 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gtk/gtk-sections.txt
+++ b/docs/reference/gtk/gtk-sections.txt
@@ -5661,6 +5661,7 @@ gtk_widget_modify_text
 gtk_widget_modify_base
 gtk_widget_modify_font
 gtk_widget_modify_cursor
+gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color
 gtk_widget_create_pango_context
 gtk_widget_get_pango_context
 gtk_widget_create_pango_layout
diff --git a/gtk/gtk.symbols b/gtk/gtk.symbols
index ff85c8c4dc..08f1ae0aa5 100644
--- a/gtk/gtk.symbols
+++ b/gtk/gtk.symbols
@@ -5170,6 +5170,7 @@ gtk_widget_modify_cursor
 gtk_widget_modify_font
 gtk_widget_modify_style
 gtk_widget_modify_text
+gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color
 gtk_widget_new
 gtk_widget_path
 gtk_widget_pop_colormap
diff --git a/gtk/gtkrc.c b/gtk/gtkrc.c
index 2e94cdfcec..556e92be8e 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkrc.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkrc.c
@@ -1334,6 +1334,34 @@ _gtk_rc_style_get_color_hashes (GtkRcStyle *rc_style)
   return priv->color_hashes;
 }
 
+static void gtk_rc_style_prepend_empty_color_hash (GtkRcStyle *rc_style);
+
+void
+_gtk_rc_style_set_symbolic_color (GtkRcStyle     *rc_style,
+                                  const gchar    *name,
+                                  const GdkColor *color)
+{
+  GtkRcStylePrivate *priv = GTK_RC_STYLE_GET_PRIVATE (rc_style);
+  GHashTable *our_hash = NULL;
+
+  if (priv->color_hashes)
+    our_hash = priv->color_hashes->data;
+
+  if (our_hash == NULL)
+    {
+      if (color == NULL)
+        return;
+
+      gtk_rc_style_prepend_empty_color_hash (rc_style);
+      our_hash = priv->color_hashes->data;
+    }
+
+  if (color)
+    g_hash_table_insert (our_hash, g_strdup (name), gdk_color_copy (color));
+  else
+    g_hash_table_remove (our_hash, name);
+}
+
 static gint
 gtk_rc_properties_cmp (gconstpointer bsearch_node1,
 		       gconstpointer bsearch_node2)
diff --git a/gtk/gtkrc.h b/gtk/gtkrc.h
index 1ca2d33138..0d5e0cebaf 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkrc.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkrc.h
@@ -263,6 +263,10 @@ void	      _gtk_rc_style_unset_rc_property	      (GtkRcStyle *rc_style,
 
 GSList     * _gtk_rc_style_get_color_hashes        (GtkRcStyle *rc_style);
 
+void         _gtk_rc_style_set_symbolic_color       (GtkRcStyle     *rc_style,
+                                                     const gchar    *name,
+                                                     const GdkColor *color);
+
 const gchar* _gtk_rc_context_get_default_font_name (GtkSettings *settings);
 void         _gtk_rc_context_destroy               (GtkSettings *settings);
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtkwidget.c b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
index 06bfe04cca..9935874f48 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkwidget.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
@@ -6683,6 +6683,32 @@ gtk_widget_modify_color_component (GtkWidget      *widget,
   gtk_widget_modify_style (widget, rc_style);
 }
 
+/**
+ * gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color:
+ * @widget: a #GtkWidget
+ * @name: the name of the symbolic color to modify
+ * @color: (allow-none): the color to assign (does not need to be allocated),
+ *         or %NULL to undo the effect of previous calls to
+ *         of gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color().
+ *
+ * Sets a symbolic color for a widget.
+ * All other style values are left untouched. See also
+ * gtk_widget_modify_style().
+ *
+ * Since: 2.22
+ **/
+void
+gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color (GtkWidget      *widget,
+                                  const gchar    *name,
+                                  const GdkColor *color)
+{
+  GtkRcStyle *rc_style = gtk_widget_get_modifier_style (widget);
+
+  _gtk_rc_style_set_symbolic_color (rc_style, name, color);
+
+  gtk_widget_modify_style (widget, rc_style);
+}
+
 /**
  * gtk_widget_modify_fg:
  * @widget: a #GtkWidget
diff --git a/gtk/gtkwidget.h b/gtk/gtkwidget.h
index 0b2d84bccb..8e12ce8b86 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkwidget.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkwidget.h
@@ -1156,6 +1156,9 @@ void        gtk_widget_modify_cursor      (GtkWidget            *widget,
 					   const GdkColor       *secondary);
 void        gtk_widget_modify_font        (GtkWidget            *widget,
 					   PangoFontDescription *font_desc);
+void        gtk_widget_modify_symbolic_color (GtkWidget         *widget,
+                                           const gchar          *name,
+                                           const GdkColor       *color);
 
 #ifndef GTK_DISABLE_DEPRECATED