diff --git a/src/nautilus-canvas-item.c b/src/nautilus-canvas-item.c
index f51967d23f7eadb56608a21be2d2a483761a2906..d833b6d4904a6501555caf1a7f0cb73804063391 100644
--- a/src/nautilus-canvas-item.c
+++ b/src/nautilus-canvas-item.c
@@ -1362,20 +1362,29 @@ nautilus_canvas_item_draw (EelCanvasItem  *item,
     context = gtk_widget_get_style_context (GTK_WIDGET (container));
     gtk_style_context_save (context);
     gtk_style_context_add_class (context, "nautilus-canvas-item");
-    if (details->is_thumbnail)
-    {
-        gtk_style_context_add_class (context, "thumbnail");
-    }
 
     icon_rect = canvas_item->details->icon_rect;
     temp_surface = map_surface (canvas_item);
 
+    if (details->is_thumbnail)
+    {
+        /* Draw box shadow before drawing the thumbnail. */
+        gtk_style_context_save (context);
+        gtk_style_context_add_class (context, "thumbnail");
+        gtk_render_background (context, cr,
+                               icon_rect.x0,
+                               icon_rect.y0,
+                               icon_rect.x1 - icon_rect.x0,
+                               icon_rect.y1 - icon_rect.y0);
+        gtk_style_context_restore (context);
+    }
     gtk_render_icon_surface (context, cr,
                              temp_surface,
                              icon_rect.x0, icon_rect.y0);
     cairo_surface_destroy (temp_surface);
 
     /* Draw the label text. */
+    gtk_style_context_add_class (context, "label-text");
     draw_label_text (canvas_item, cr, icon_rect);
 
     gtk_style_context_restore (context);
diff --git a/src/nautilus-list-view.c b/src/nautilus-list-view.c
index 77278fab196059b2570dff9dd8b988db37f06c4b..bb7fbe3ee6f89e87efbb61daa32b8a770e64deb2 100644
--- a/src/nautilus-list-view.c
+++ b/src/nautilus-list-view.c
@@ -1578,16 +1578,6 @@ starred_cell_data_func (GtkTreeViewColumn *column,
     g_autofree gchar *text = NULL;
     g_autofree gchar *uri = NULL;
     NautilusFile *file;
-    GtkStyleContext *context;
-
-    /* The "thumbnail" style class is set before rendering each icon cell with
-     * a thumbnail. However, style classes are not applied to each cell, but
-     * alwyas to the whole GtkTreeView widget. So, before the star icon is
-     * rendered, we must ensure that the style is not set, otherwise the star
-     * icon is going to get the styles meant only for thumbnail icons.
-     */
-    context = gtk_widget_get_style_context (GTK_WIDGET (view));
-    gtk_style_context_remove_class (context, "thumbnail");
 
     gtk_tree_model_get (model, iter,
                         view->details->file_name_column_num, &text,
@@ -1659,10 +1649,6 @@ icon_cell_data_func (GtkTreeViewColumn *column,
                         &file,
                         -1);
 
-    /* Hack: Set/unset the style class in advance of rendering. This makes a
-     * major assumption that's all but clearly stated in the documentation of
-     * GtkCellLayout: that the DataFunc is called before rendering each cell.
-     */
     is_thumbnail = FALSE;
     if (zoom_level_is_enough_for_thumbnails (view) && file != NULL)
     {
@@ -1678,11 +1664,53 @@ icon_cell_data_func (GtkTreeViewColumn *column,
 
     if (is_thumbnail)
     {
+        cairo_surface_t *new_surface;
+        cairo_t *cr;
+        int w, h;
+
+        /* The shadow extends 1px up, 3px down, and 2px left and right. For that
+         * reason, the final surface must be 4px taller and 4px wider, with the
+         * original icon starting at (2, 1).
+         *
+         *        *#######################*        -+
+         *        *#.                    #* -+      |
+         *        *# \                   #*  |      |
+         *        *#  \                  #*  |      |
+         *        *#   (2, 1)            #*  |      |
+         *        *#                     #*  | h    |
+         *        *#                     #*  |      | h + 4
+         *        *#                     #*  |      |
+         *        *#                     #*  |      |
+         *        *#                     #* -+      |
+         *        *#######################*         |
+         *        *#######################*         |
+         *        *************************        -+
+         *          |                   |
+         *          +-------------------+            :¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:
+         *                    w                      : #### --> Solid shadow :
+         *        |                       |          :                       :
+         *        +-----------------------+          : **** --> Blur shadow  :
+         *                  w + 4                    '.......................'
+         */
+        w = cairo_image_surface_get_width (surface);
+        h = cairo_image_surface_get_height (surface);
+
+        new_surface = cairo_surface_create_similar (surface,
+                                                    CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR_ALPHA,
+                                                    w + 4,
+                                                    h + 4);
+        cr = cairo_create (new_surface);
+
+        gtk_style_context_save (context);
         gtk_style_context_add_class (context, "thumbnail");
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        gtk_style_context_remove_class (context, "thumbnail");
+        gtk_render_background (context, cr, 2, 1, w, h);
+        gtk_render_icon_surface (context, cr, surface, 2, 1);
+        gtk_style_context_restore (context);
+
+        cairo_destroy (cr);
+
+        cairo_surface_destroy (surface);
+        surface = new_surface;
     }
 
     g_object_set (renderer,
diff --git a/src/resources/css/Adwaita.css b/src/resources/css/Adwaita.css
index 4991979cf05da73d5cb56368b0228854d1b7f529..f96cddc19959492c2fab6484719f255c7ea3ef6c 100644
--- a/src/resources/css/Adwaita.css
+++ b/src/resources/css/Adwaita.css
@@ -9,14 +9,11 @@
 }
 
 .nautilus-canvas-item {
-    border-radius: 5px;
+    border-radius: 0px;
 }
 
-.nautilus-canvas-item.thumbnail {
-  -gtk-icon-shadow: 0px 1px 2px @borders,
-                    1px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.25),
-                    -1px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.25),
-                    0px 2px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5);
+.nautilus-canvas-item.label-text {
+    border-radius: 5px;
 }
 
 .nautilus-canvas-item.dim-label {
@@ -194,13 +191,6 @@ entry.search > * {
     border-bottom: 1px solid @theme_bg_color;
 }
 
-.nautilus-list-view.thumbnail {
-  -gtk-icon-shadow: 0px 1px 2px @borders,
-                    1px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.25),
-                    -1px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.25),
-                    0px 2px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5);
-}
-
 .search-information {
   background-color: @theme_selected_bg_color;
   color:white;
@@ -239,10 +229,6 @@ flowboxchild:selected {
 
 flowboxchild .thumbnail {
   margin: 4px;
-  box-shadow: 0px 1px 2px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5),
-              0px 0px 0px 1px alpha(@borders, 0.5),
-              0px 2px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5);
-  border-radius: 2px;
 }
 
 .icon-ui-labels-box {
@@ -262,3 +248,12 @@ flowboxchild:selected image {
   */
   -gtk-icon-shadow: 0px 0px @theme_selected_bg_color;
 }
+
+.thumbnail {
+  box-shadow: 0px 1px 2px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5),
+              0px 0px 0px 1px alpha(@borders, 0.5),
+              0px 2px 0px 0px alpha(@borders, 0.5);
+  border-radius: 2px;
+  /* Opaque background for thumbnails with transparent areas. */
+  background-color: #fafafa;
+}