diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 530ed7a..eceb926 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -108,7 +108,8 @@ openvpn_gui_LDADD = \
 	-lnetapi32 \
 	-lole32 \
 	-lshlwapi \
-	-lsecur32
+	-lsecur32 \
+	-lmsimg32
 
 openvpn-gui-res.o: $(openvpn_gui_RESOURCES) $(srcdir)/openvpn-gui-res.h
 	$(RCCOMPILE) -i $< -o $@
diff --git a/openvpn-gui.vcxproj b/openvpn-gui.vcxproj
index e50b664..80bdb97 100644
--- a/openvpn-gui.vcxproj
+++ b/openvpn-gui.vcxproj
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>HAVE_CONFIG_H;_MSC_VER</PreprocessorDefinitions>
     </ResourceCompile>
     <Link>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>Netapi32.lib;Wtsapi32.lib;Comctl32.lib;Secur32.lib;Ws2_32.lib;Crypt32.lib;Shlwapi.lib;Winhttp.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>Netapi32.lib;Wtsapi32.lib;Comctl32.lib;Secur32.lib;Ws2_32.lib;Crypt32.lib;Shlwapi.lib;Winhttp.lib;Msimg32.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
     <PreBuildEvent>
       <Command>copy config-msvc.h config.h</Command>
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_INC_MATH;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;UNICODE;_UNICODE;_CRT_NON_CONFORMING_WCSTOK;HAVE_CONFIG_H</PreprocessorDefinitions>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>Netapi32.lib;Wtsapi32.lib;Comctl32.lib;Secur32.lib;Ws2_32.lib;Crypt32.lib;Shlwapi.lib;Winhttp.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>Netapi32.lib;Wtsapi32.lib;Comctl32.lib;Secur32.lib;Ws2_32.lib;Crypt32.lib;Shlwapi.lib;Winhttp.lib;Msimg32.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/tray.c b/tray.c
index 2c32438..1861ff3 100644
--- a/tray.c
+++ b/tray.c
@@ -66,8 +66,46 @@ CreateBitmaps()
     {
         HICON icon = LoadLocalizedIconEx(ID_ICO_CONNECTING, cx, cy);
         ICONINFO iconinfo;
-        GetIconInfo(icon, &iconinfo);
-        hbmpConnecting = iconinfo.hbmColor;
+
+        if (!GetIconInfo(icon, &iconinfo))
+        {
+            MsgToEventLog(EVENTLOG_ERROR_TYPE, L"Error loading ID_ICO_CONNECTING.");
+            return;
+        }
+
+        /* Make a color bitmap with transparency for use as a
+         * checkmark for indicating the connecting state. We do this
+         * by combining the mask bitmap in the icon with its image bitmap.
+         * These bitmaps are created by the GetIconInfo call.
+         */
+
+        /* Create two DCs for drawing the images in memory */
+        HDC maskDC = CreateCompatibleDC(NULL), imgDC = CreateCompatibleDC(NULL);
+        if (!maskDC || !imgDC)
+        {
+            DeleteObject(iconinfo.hbmMask);
+            DeleteObject(iconinfo.hbmColor);
+            if (maskDC) DeleteDC(maskDC);
+            if (imgDC) DeleteDC(imgDC);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        /* Load the image and mask bitmaps into the DCs saving the default one's */
+        HBITMAP def1 = (HBITMAP) SelectObject(imgDC, iconinfo.hbmColor);
+        HBITMAP def2 = (HBITMAP) SelectObject(maskDC, iconinfo.hbmMask);
+
+        /* Transfer bit blocks from mask to image -- transparent color is black */
+        TransparentBlt(imgDC, 0, 0, cx, cy, maskDC, 0, 0, cx, cy, RGB(0, 0, 0));
+
+        /* Save the result and restore the default bitmaps back in the DC */
+        hbmpConnecting = (HBITMAP) SelectObject(imgDC, def1);
+        SelectObject(maskDC, def2);
+
+        /* We don't need the mask bitmap -- free it */
+        DeleteObject(iconinfo.hbmMask);
+
+        DeleteDC(imgDC);
+        DeleteDC(maskDC);
     }
 }