diff --git a/gtk/gtkbuilder.c b/gtk/gtkbuilder.c
index c6b6b2577a..695b53e79f 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkbuilder.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkbuilder.c
@@ -100,17 +100,12 @@
  * specifying the id of the #GtkUIManager in the "constructor" attribute and the
  * name of the object in the "id" attribute.
  *
- * Objects must be given a name with the "id" attribute, which allows the
+ * Objects may be given a name with the "id" attribute, which allows the
  * application to retrieve them from the builder with gtk_builder_get_object().
  * An id is also necessary to use the object as property value in other parts of
- * the UI definition.
+ * the UI definition. GTK+ reserves ids starting and ending with ___ (3 underscores)
+ * for its own purposes.
  * </para>
- * <note><para>
- * Prior to 2.20, GtkBuilder was setting the "name" property of constructed widgets to the
- * "id" attribute. In GTK+ 2.20 or newer, you have to use gtk_buildable_get_name() instead
- * of gtk_widget_get_name() to obtain the "id", or set the "name" property in your UI
- * definition.
- * </para></note>
  * <para>
  * Setting properties of objects is pretty straightforward with the
  * &lt;property&gt; element: the "name" attribute specifies the name of the
diff --git a/gtk/gtkbuilder.rnc b/gtk/gtkbuilder.rnc
index 635fd4f289..6e3aea3469 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkbuilder.rnc
+++ b/gtk/gtkbuilder.rnc
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ requires = element requires {
 }
 
 object = element object {
-  attribute id { xsd:ID },
+  attribute id { xsd:ID } ?,
   attribute class { text },
   attribute type-func { text } ?,
   attribute constructor { text } ?,
diff --git a/gtk/gtkbuilder.rng b/gtk/gtkbuilder.rng
index eee698a607..341d19f3ea 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkbuilder.rng
+++ b/gtk/gtkbuilder.rng
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@
   </define>
   <define name="object">
     <element name="object">
-      <attribute name="id">
-        <data type="ID" datatypeLibrary="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-datatypes"/>
-      </attribute>
+      <optional>
+        <attribute name="id">
+          <data type="ID" datatypeLibrary="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-datatypes"/>
+        </attribute>
+      </optional>
       <attribute name="class">
         <text/>
       </attribute>
diff --git a/gtk/gtkbuilderparser.c b/gtk/gtkbuilderparser.c
index 11e04cb506..e2111d65c9 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkbuilderparser.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkbuilderparser.c
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ is_requested_object (const gchar *object,
 
   for (l = data->requested_objects; l; l = l->next)
     {
-      if (strcmp (l->data, object) == 0)
+      if (g_strcmp0 (l->data, object) == 0)
         return TRUE;
     }
 
@@ -369,10 +369,11 @@ parse_object (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
       return;
     }
 
+  data->object_counter++;
+
   if (!object_id)
     {
-      error_missing_attribute (data, element_name, "id", error);
-      return;
+      object_id = g_strdup_printf ("___object_%d___", data->object_counter++);
     }
 
   ++data->cur_object_level;
@@ -420,7 +421,6 @@ parse_object (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
       return;
     }
 
-
   g_hash_table_insert (data->object_ids, g_strdup (object_id), GINT_TO_POINTER (line));
 }
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtkbuilderprivate.h b/gtk/gtkbuilderprivate.h
index 346459c678..b653373be7 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkbuilderprivate.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkbuilderprivate.h
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ typedef struct {
   gint requested_object_level;
   gint cur_object_level;
 
+  gint object_counter;
+
   GHashTable *object_ids;
 } ParserData;
 
diff --git a/testsuite/gtk/builder.c b/testsuite/gtk/builder.c
index 08582623c5..d20fba6a61 100644
--- a/testsuite/gtk/builder.c
+++ b/testsuite/gtk/builder.c
@@ -2728,6 +2728,53 @@ test_expose_object (void)
   g_object_unref (image);
 }
 
+static void
+test_no_ids (void)
+{
+  GtkBuilder *builder;
+  GError *error = NULL;
+  GObject *obj;
+  const gchar buffer[] =
+    "<interface>"
+    "  <object class=\"GtkInfoBar\">"
+    "    <child internal-child=\"content_area\">"
+    "      <object class=\"GtkHBox\">"
+    "        <child>"
+    "          <object class=\"GtkLabel\">"
+    "            <property name=\"label\" translatable=\"yes\">Message</property>"
+    "          </object>"
+    "          <packing>"
+    "            <property name='expand'>False</property>"
+    "          </packing>"
+    "        </child>"
+    "      </object>"
+    "    </child>"
+    "    <child internal-child=\"action_area\">"
+    "      <object class=\"GtkVButtonBox\">"
+    "        <child>"
+    "          <object class=\"GtkButton\" id=\"button_ok\">"
+    "            <property name=\"label\">gtk-ok</property>"
+    "            <property name=\"use-stock\">yes</property>"
+    "          </object>"
+    "        </child>"
+    "      </object>"
+    "    </child>"
+    "    <action-widgets>"
+    "      <action-widget response=\"1\">button_ok</action-widget>"
+    "    </action-widgets>"
+    "  </object>"
+    "</interface>";
+
+  builder = gtk_builder_new ();
+  gtk_builder_add_from_string (builder, buffer, -1, &error);
+  g_assert (error == NULL);
+
+  obj = gtk_builder_get_object (builder, "button_ok");
+  g_assert (GTK_IS_BUTTON (obj));
+
+  g_object_unref (builder);
+}
+
 int
 main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
@@ -2777,6 +2824,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   g_test_add_func ("/Builder/GMenu", test_gmenu);
   g_test_add_func ("/Builder/LevelBar", test_level_bar);
   g_test_add_func ("/Builder/Expose Object", test_expose_object);
+  g_test_add_func ("/Builder/No IDs", test_no_ids);
 
   return g_test_run();
 }