diff --git a/data/gui/options_ui.stkgui b/data/gui/options_ui.stkgui
index 408a565f9..a9750ce84 100644
--- a/data/gui/options_ui.stkgui
+++ b/data/gui/options_ui.stkgui
@@ -26,19 +26,19 @@
         <spacer width="20" height="40" />
         
         <div width="75%" height="fit" layout="horizontal-row" >
-            <checkbox id="showfps" width="40" height="40"/>
+            <checkbox id="showfps"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="100%" />
             <label height="100%" I18N="In the ui settings" text="Display FPS"/>
         </div>
 
         <div width="75%" height="fit" layout="horizontal-row" >
-            <checkbox id="enable-internet" width="40" height="40"/>
+            <checkbox id="enable-internet"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="100%" />
             <label height="100%" I18N="In the ui settings" text="Internet STK news"/>
         </div>
 
-        <div width="75%" height="40" layout="horizontal-row" >
-            <checkbox id="minimal-racegui" width="40" height="40"/>
+        <div width="75%" height="fit" layout="horizontal-row" >
+            <checkbox id="minimal-racegui"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="100%" />
             <label height="100%" I18N="In the ui settings" text="Minimal Race GUI"/>
         </div>
diff --git a/data/gui/options_video.stkgui b/data/gui/options_video.stkgui
index ba0618fbf..1a28fdb06 100644
--- a/data/gui/options_video.stkgui
+++ b/data/gui/options_video.stkgui
@@ -22,17 +22,14 @@
         <div width="75%" height="50" layout="horizontal-row" >
             <label I18N="In the graphics settings" text="Graphical Effects Settings"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="20"/>
-            
-            <!-- FIXME: don't hardcode size -->
-            <gauge id="gfx_level" min_value="1" max_value="5" width="300" height="50"/>
+            <gauge id="gfx_level" min_value="1" max_value="5" width="300" />
         </div>
         
         <spacer height="15" width="10"/>
         
         <!-- ************ VSYNC ************ -->
         <div width="75%" height="fit" layout="horizontal-row" >
-            <!-- FIXME don't hardcode height -->
-            <checkbox id="vsync" width="40" height="40"/>
+            <checkbox id="vsync"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="100%" />
             <label I18N="In the video settings" text="Vertical Sync (requires restart)"/>
         </div>
@@ -51,8 +48,7 @@
         
         <div width="75%" height="fit" layout="horizontal-row" >
             <spacer width="40" height="100%" />
-            <!-- FIXME don't hardcode height -->
-            <checkbox id="fullscreen" width="40" height="40"/>
+            <checkbox id="fullscreen"/>
             <spacer width="20" height="100%" />
             <label height="100%" I18N="In the video settings" text="Fullscreen"/>
         </div>
diff --git a/src/guiengine/layout_manager.cpp b/src/guiengine/layout_manager.cpp
index b9bb04371..453642eef 100644
--- a/src/guiengine/layout_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/guiengine/layout_manager.cpp
@@ -163,19 +163,21 @@ void LayoutManager::readCoords(Widget* self)
         // lines are required, we need to specify a height explicitely
         label_h = dim.Height + self->getHeightNeededAroundLabel();
     }
-    else if (self->getType() == WTYPE_SPINNER)
+    else if (self->getType() == WTYPE_CHECKBOX)
     {
-        // User text height to guess spinner height
+        // User text height to guess checkbox size
         IGUIFont* font = (self->m_title_font ? GUIEngine::getTitleFont() : GUIEngine::getFont());
         core::dimension2d< u32 > dim = font->getDimension( L"X" );
-        label_h = dim.Height + self->getHeightNeededAroundLabel();        
+        label_h = dim.Height + self->getHeightNeededAroundLabel();   
+        label_w = label_h; // a checkbox is square
     }
     
     if (label_h == -1)
     {
         if (self->getType() == WTYPE_TEXTBOX ||
-            self->getType() == WTYPE_BUTTON ||
-            self->getType() == WTYPE_LABEL)
+            self->getType() == WTYPE_BUTTON  ||
+            self->getType() == WTYPE_LABEL   ||
+            self->getType() == WTYPE_SPINNER)
         {
             IGUIFont* font = (self->m_title_font ? GUIEngine::getTitleFont() : GUIEngine::getFont());
 
diff --git a/src/guiengine/widgets/check_box_widget.hpp b/src/guiengine/widgets/check_box_widget.hpp
index 795ee8999..ee90bc075 100644
--- a/src/guiengine/widgets/check_box_widget.hpp
+++ b/src/guiengine/widgets/check_box_widget.hpp
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ namespace GUIEngine
         
         /** Set whether the checkbox is checked */
         void setState(const bool checked)  { m_state = checked; }
+        
+        /** When inferring widget size from its label length, this method will be called to
+         * if/how much space must be added to the raw label's size for the widget to be large enough */
+        virtual int getHeightNeededAroundLabel() const { return 10; }
     };  
 }