diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Events/buttonclick.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Events/buttonclick.js
index f4de405997..f772c761f4 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Events/buttonclick.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Events/buttonclick.js
@@ -97,6 +97,31 @@ OpenLayers.Events.buttonclick = OpenLayers.Class({
         delete this.target;
     },
 
+    /**
+     * Method: getPressedButton
+     * Get the pressed button, if any. Returns undefined if no button
+     * was pressed.
+     *
+     * Arguments:
+     * element - {DOMElement} The event target.
+     *
+     * Returns:
+     * {DOMElement} The button element, or undefined.
+     */
+    getPressedButton: function(element) {
+        var depth = 5, // limit the search depth
+            button;
+        do {
+            if(OpenLayers.Element.hasClass(element, "olButton")) {
+                // hit!
+                button = element;
+                break;
+            }
+            element = element.parentNode;
+        } while(--depth > 0 && element);
+        return button;
+    },
+
     /**
      * Method: buttonClick
      * Check if a button was clicked, and fire the buttonclick event
@@ -108,27 +133,25 @@ OpenLayers.Events.buttonclick = OpenLayers.Class({
         var propagate = true,
             element = OpenLayers.Event.element(evt);
         if (element && (OpenLayers.Event.isLeftClick(evt) || !~evt.type.indexOf("mouse"))) {
-            if (element.nodeType === 3 || OpenLayers.Element.hasClass(element, "olAlphaImg")) {
-                element = element.parentNode;
-            }
-            if (OpenLayers.Element.hasClass(element, "olButton")) {
+            // was a button pressed?
+            var button = this.getPressedButton(element);
+            if (button) {
                 if (evt.type === "keydown") {
                     switch (evt.keyCode) {
                     case OpenLayers.Event.KEY_RETURN:
                     case OpenLayers.Event.KEY_SPACE:
                         this.target.triggerEvent("buttonclick", {
-                            buttonElement: element
+                            buttonElement: button
                         });
                         OpenLayers.Event.stop(evt);
                         propagate = false;
                         break;
                     }
-                }
-                if (this.startEvt) {
+                } else if (this.startEvt) {
                     if (this.completeRegEx.test(evt.type)) {
-                        var pos = OpenLayers.Util.pagePosition(element);
+                        var pos = OpenLayers.Util.pagePosition(button);
                         this.target.triggerEvent("buttonclick", {
-                            buttonElement: element,
+                            buttonElement: button,
                             buttonXY: {
                                 x: this.startEvt.clientX - pos[0],
                                 y: this.startEvt.clientY - pos[1]