diff --git a/src/widgets/kernel/qwidget.cpp b/src/widgets/kernel/qwidget.cpp
index a5ad101201..95d38c4882 100644
--- a/src/widgets/kernel/qwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/kernel/qwidget.cpp
@@ -2575,7 +2575,16 @@ void QWidget::setStyleSheet(const QString& styleSheet)
     }
 
     if (proxy) { // style sheet update
-        if (d->polished)
+        bool repolish = d->polished;
+        if (!repolish) {
+            const auto childWidgets = findChildren<QWidget*>();
+            for (auto child : childWidgets) {
+                repolish = child->d_func()->polished;
+                if (repolish)
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (repolish)
             proxy->repolish(this);
         return;
     }
diff --git a/tests/auto/widgets/styles/qstylesheetstyle/tst_qstylesheetstyle.cpp b/tests/auto/widgets/styles/qstylesheetstyle/tst_qstylesheetstyle.cpp
index 27500173c8..a4ce5ac77e 100644
--- a/tests/auto/widgets/styles/qstylesheetstyle/tst_qstylesheetstyle.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/widgets/styles/qstylesheetstyle/tst_qstylesheetstyle.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ private slots:
     void cleanup();
     void repolish();
     void repolish_without_crashing();
+    void repolish_children();
     void numinstances();
     void widgetsBeforeAppStyleSheet();
     void widgetsAfterAppStyleSheet();
@@ -438,6 +439,19 @@ void tst_QStyleSheetStyle::repolish_without_crashing()
     QCOMPARE(COLOR(*label), QColor(Qt::red));
 }
 
+void tst_QStyleSheetStyle::repolish_children()
+{
+    QWidget parent;
+    parent.setStyleSheet("QPushButton { color: red; background: white }");
+    QPushButton p2(&parent);
+    // a layout would call show, triggering a polish of the child while
+    // the parent on which the style sheet is set remains unpolished
+    p2.show();
+    QCOMPARE(BACKGROUND(p2), Qt::white);
+    parent.setStyleSheet("QPushButton { color: red; background: red }");
+    QCOMPARE(BACKGROUND(p2), Qt::red);
+}
+
 void tst_QStyleSheetStyle::widgetStyle()
 {
     qApp->setStyleSheet(QString());