diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/content/impl/ContentImpl.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/content/impl/ContentImpl.java
index fdf8544c8c67..f88f1e3af082 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/content/impl/ContentImpl.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/content/impl/ContentImpl.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import com.intellij.ui.content.AlertIcon;
 import com.intellij.ui.content.Content;
 import com.intellij.ui.content.ContentManager;
 import com.intellij.util.IconUtil;
+import com.intellij.util.ObjectUtils;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NonNls;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
@@ -72,7 +73,11 @@ public class ContentImpl extends UserDataHolderBase implements Content {
 
   @Override
   public JComponent getPreferredFocusableComponent() {
-    return myFocusRequest == null ? myComponent : myFocusRequest.compute();
+    if (myFocusRequest != null) return myFocusRequest.compute();
+    if (myComponent == null) return null;
+    Container traversalRoot = myComponent.isFocusCycleRoot() ? myComponent : myComponent.getFocusCycleRootAncestor();
+    if (traversalRoot == null) return null;
+    return ObjectUtils.tryCast(traversalRoot.getFocusTraversalPolicy().getDefaultComponent(myComponent), JComponent.class);
   }
 
   @Override