diff --git a/xfce4-settings-manager/xfce-settings-manager-dialog.c b/xfce4-settings-manager/xfce-settings-manager-dialog.c
index fc0c137c..9368f470 100644
--- a/xfce4-settings-manager/xfce-settings-manager-dialog.c
+++ b/xfce4-settings-manager/xfce-settings-manager-dialog.c
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ xfce_settings_manager_dialog_iconview_keynav_failed (ExoIconView               *
             if (li != NULL)
             {
                 category = li->data;
-                if (gtk_widget_get_visible (category->box))
+                if (gtk_widget_get_sensitive (category->box))
                     break;
             }
         }
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ xfce_settings_manager_dialog_entry_changed (GtkWidget                 *entry,
 
             /* set visibility of the category */
             n_children = gtk_tree_model_iter_n_children (model, NULL);
-            gtk_widget_set_visible (category->box, n_children > 0);
+            gtk_widget_set_sensitive (category->box, n_children > 0);
         }
     }
     else
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ xfce_settings_manager_dialog_entry_key_press (GtkWidget                 *entry,
         for (li = dialog->categories; li != NULL; li = li->next)
         {
             category = li->data;
-            if (gtk_widget_get_visible (category->box))
+            if (gtk_widget_get_sensitive (category->box))
             {
                 model = exo_icon_view_get_model (EXO_ICON_VIEW (category->iconview));
                 n_visible_items += gtk_tree_model_iter_n_children (model, NULL);
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ xfce_settings_manager_dialog_entry_key_press (GtkWidget                 *entry,
             category = li->data;
 
             /* find the first visible category */
-            if (!gtk_widget_get_visible (category->box))
+            if (!gtk_widget_get_sensitive (category->box))
                 continue;
 
             path = gtk_tree_path_new_first ();