diff --git a/src/gtkui/settings.cc b/src/gtkui/settings.cc
index a701eb2fa..1fdd583f6 100644
--- a/src/gtkui/settings.cc
+++ b/src/gtkui/settings.cc
@@ -31,10 +31,17 @@ static void redisplay_playlists ()
     pl_notebook_populate ();
 }
 
+static const ComboItem playlist_tabs_options[] = {
+    ComboItem (N_("Always"), PlaylistTabVisibility::Always),
+    ComboItem (N_("Auto-hide"), PlaylistTabVisibility::AutoHide),
+    ComboItem (N_("Never"), PlaylistTabVisibility::Never)
+};
+
 static const PreferencesWidget gtkui_widgets[] = {
     WidgetLabel (N_("<b>Playlist Tabs</b>")),
-    WidgetCheck (N_("Always show tabs"),
-        WidgetBool ("gtkui", "playlist_tabs_visible", show_hide_playlist_tabs)),
+    WidgetCombo (N_("Show playlist tabs:"),
+        WidgetInt ("gtkui", "playlist_tabs_visible", show_hide_playlist_tabs),
+        {{playlist_tabs_options}}),
     WidgetCheck (N_("Show entry counts"),
         WidgetBool ("gtkui", "entry_count_visible", redisplay_playlists)),
     WidgetCheck (N_("Show close buttons"),
diff --git a/src/gtkui/ui_gtk.cc b/src/gtkui/ui_gtk.cc
index e61dfd404..1792a88c0 100644
--- a/src/gtkui/ui_gtk.cc
+++ b/src/gtkui/ui_gtk.cc
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ static const char * const gtkui_defaults[] = {
     "infoarea_show_vis", "TRUE",
     "infoarea_visible", "TRUE",
     "menu_visible", "TRUE",
-    "playlist_tabs_visible", "TRUE",
+    "playlist_tabs_visible", aud::numeric_string<PlaylistTabVisibility::Always>::str,
     "statusbar_visible", "TRUE",
     "entry_count_visible", "FALSE",
     "close_button_visible", "TRUE",
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ bool GtkUI::init ()
     AUDDBG ("playlist associate\n");
     pl_notebook_populate ();
 
-    g_signal_connect (slider, "change-value", (GCallback) ui_slider_change_value_cb , nullptr);
+    g_signal_connect (slider, "change-value", (GCallback) ui_slider_change_value_cb, nullptr);
     g_signal_connect (slider, "button-press-event", (GCallback) ui_slider_button_press_cb, nullptr);
     g_signal_connect (slider, "button-release-event", (GCallback) ui_slider_button_release_cb, nullptr);
 
diff --git a/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.cc b/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.cc
index a3dda916b..d196ffce0 100644
--- a/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.cc
+++ b/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.cc
@@ -581,6 +581,9 @@ GtkWidget * pl_notebook_new ()
 
 void show_hide_playlist_tabs ()
 {
-    gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs ((GtkNotebook *) pl_notebook, aud_get_bool ("gtkui",
-     "playlist_tabs_visible") || Playlist::n_playlists () > 1);
+    int playlist_tabs_visible = aud_get_int ("gtkui", "playlist_tabs_visible");
+    bool show_tabs = playlist_tabs_visible != PlaylistTabVisibility::Never &&
+                    (playlist_tabs_visible != PlaylistTabVisibility::AutoHide ||
+                     Playlist::n_playlists () > 1);
+    gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs ((GtkNotebook *) pl_notebook, show_tabs);
 }
diff --git a/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.h b/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.h
index 317997cdd..0d2640bb0 100644
--- a/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.h
+++ b/src/gtkui/ui_playlist_notebook.h
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@
 
 class Playlist;
 
+enum PlaylistTabVisibility {
+    Always,
+    AutoHide,
+    Never
+};
+
 extern GtkWidget * pl_notebook;
 
 GtkWidget * pl_notebook_new ();