diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 267b7818..7ee05148 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
  * plugins/filebrowser.c:
    Fix packing configure widgets equally.
    Use spacing multiples of 6 as recommended by Gnome HIG.
+ * src/prefs.c, src/ui_utils.c, doc/geany.txt, doc/geany.html:
+   Disable switching the sidebar to the right on Windows as it will
+   probably fail like the Split Window plugin.
 
 
 2009-10-25  Enrico Tröger  <enrico(dot)troeger(at)uvena(dot)de>
diff --git a/doc/geany.html b/doc/geany.html
index 81201060..9cd3cc29 100644
--- a/doc/geany.html
+++ b/doc/geany.html
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 <meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.4: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" />
 <title>Geany</title>
 <meta name="authors" content="Enrico Tröger  Nick Treleaven  Frank Lanitz" />
-<meta name="date" content="2009-10-22" />
+<meta name="date" content="2009-10-23" />
 <style type="text/css">
 
 /*
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ Stylesheet for Geany's documentation based on a version of John Gabriele.
 <br />Nick Treleaven
 <br />Frank Lanitz</td></tr>
 <tr><th class="docinfo-name">Date:</th>
-<td>2009-10-22</td></tr>
+<td>2009-10-23</td></tr>
 <tr><th class="docinfo-name">Version:</th>
 <td>0.19</td></tr>
 </tbody>
@@ -2014,7 +2014,12 @@ current document you are editing.</dd>
 change between documents (see <a class="reference" href="#switching-between-documents">Switching between documents</a>) and
 to perform some common operations such as saving, closing and reloading.</dd>
 <dt>Position</dt>
-<dd>Whether to place the sidebar on the left or right of the editor window.</dd>
+<dd><p class="first">Whether to place the sidebar on the left or right of the editor window.</p>
+<div class="last note">
+<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
+<p class="last">This option is not available on Windows.</p>
+</div>
+</dd>
 </dl>
 </div>
 <div class="section">
@@ -5804,7 +5809,7 @@ USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.</p>
 <div class="footer">
 <hr class="footer" />
 <a class="reference" href="geany.txt">View document source</a>.
-Generated on: 2009-10-23 16:09 UTC.
+Generated on: 2009-10-26 15:39 UTC.
 Generated by <a class="reference" href="http://docutils.sourceforge.net/">Docutils</a> from <a class="reference" href="http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html">reStructuredText</a> source.
 
 </div>
diff --git a/doc/geany.txt b/doc/geany.txt
index f476832b..10769a3d 100644
--- a/doc/geany.txt
+++ b/doc/geany.txt
@@ -1693,6 +1693,9 @@ Show documents list
 Position
     Whether to place the sidebar on the left or right of the editor window.
 
+    .. note::
+        This option is not available on Windows.
+
 Fonts
 `````
 
diff --git a/src/prefs.c b/src/prefs.c
index 79f553ce..1864a1da 100644
--- a/src/prefs.c
+++ b/src/prefs.c
@@ -1636,6 +1636,9 @@ void prefs_show_dialog(void)
 				"toggled", G_CALLBACK(on_open_encoding_toggled), NULL);
 	}
 
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+	gtk_widget_set_sensitive(ui_lookup_widget(ui_widgets.prefs_dialog, "radio_sidebar_right"), FALSE);
+#endif
 	prefs_init_dialog();
 	gtk_window_present(GTK_WINDOW(ui_widgets.prefs_dialog));
 }
diff --git a/src/ui_utils.c b/src/ui_utils.c
index 56be98f5..0bc6ad16 100644
--- a/src/ui_utils.c
+++ b/src/ui_utils.c
@@ -1820,6 +1820,8 @@ void ui_init_toolbar_widgets(void)
 
 void ui_swap_sidebar_pos(void)
 {
+/* reparenting scintilla will probably fail on Windows */
+#ifndef G_OS_WIN32
 	GtkWidget *pane = ui_lookup_widget(main_widgets.window, "hpaned1");
 	GtkWidget *left = gtk_paned_get_child1(GTK_PANED(pane));
 	GtkWidget *right = gtk_paned_get_child2(GTK_PANED(pane));
@@ -1833,6 +1835,7 @@ void ui_swap_sidebar_pos(void)
 
 	gtk_paned_set_position(GTK_PANED(pane), pane->allocation.width
 		- gtk_paned_get_position(GTK_PANED(pane)));
+#endif
 }