diff --git a/src/mathed/MathData.cpp b/src/mathed/MathData.cpp
index a92511919a..eee53d2f50 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathData.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathData.cpp
@@ -229,6 +229,18 @@ bool MathData::addToMathRow(MathRow & mrow, MetricsInfo & mi) const
 	ar->updateMacros(&bv->cursor(), mi.macrocontext,
 	                 InternalUpdate, mi.base.macro_nesting);
 
+	pos_type bspos = -1, espos = -1;
+	Cursor const & cur = bv->cursor();
+	InsetMath const * inset = cur.inset().asInsetMath();
+	if (cur.selection() && inset) {
+		CursorSlice const s1 = cur.selBegin();
+		CursorSlice const s2 = cur.selEnd();
+		// Detect inner selection in this math data.
+		if (s1.idx() == s2.idx() && &inset->cell(s1.idx()) == this) {
+			bspos = s1.pos();
+			espos = s2.pos();
+		}
+	}
 
 	// FIXME: for completion, try to insert the relevant data in the
 	// mathrow (like is done for text rows). We could add a pair of
@@ -240,11 +252,15 @@ bool MathData::addToMathRow(MathRow & mrow, MetricsInfo & mi) const
 	size_t const compl_pos = has_completion ? inlineCompletionPos.pos() : 0;
 
 	for (size_t i = 0 ; i < size() ; ++i) {
+		if (i == bspos)
+			mrow.push_back(MathRow::Element(mi, MathRow::BEGIN_SEL));
 		has_contents |= (*this)[i]->addToMathRow(mrow, mi);
 		if (i + 1 == compl_pos) {
 			mrow.back().compl_text = bv->inlineCompletion();
 			mrow.back().compl_unique_to = bv->inlineCompletionUniqueChars();
 		}
+		if (i + 1 == espos)
+			mrow.push_back(MathRow::Element(mi, MathRow::END_SEL));
 	}
 	return has_contents;
 }
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathRow.cpp b/src/mathed/MathRow.cpp
index 81b6ad9e92..fee869c89a 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathRow.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathRow.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "BufferView.h"
 #include "ColorSet.h"
 #include "CoordCache.h"
+#include "LyXRC.h"
 #include "MetricsInfo.h"
 
 #include "mathed/InsetMath.h"
@@ -247,6 +248,8 @@ void MathRow::metrics(MetricsInfo & mi, Dimension & dim)
 		Dimension d;
 		switch (e.type) {
 		case DUMMY:
+		case BEGIN_SEL:
+		case END_SEL:
 			break;
 		case INSET:
 			e.inset->metrics(mi, d);
@@ -315,6 +318,7 @@ void MathRow::metrics(MetricsInfo & mi, Dimension & dim)
 
 void MathRow::draw(PainterInfo & pi, int x, int const y) const
 {
+	Changer change_color;
 	CoordCache & coords = pi.base.bv->coordCache();
 	for (Element const & e : elements_) {
 		switch (e.type) {
@@ -351,6 +355,13 @@ void MathRow::draw(PainterInfo & pi, int x, int const y) const
 				e.inset->afterDraw(pi);
 			x += e.before + e.after;
 			break;
+		case BEGIN_SEL:
+			if (lyxrc.use_system_colors)
+				change_color = pi.base.font.changeColor(Color_selectiontext);
+			break;
+		case END_SEL:
+			change_color = noChange();
+			break;
 		case BOX: {
 			if (e.color == Color_none)
 				break;
@@ -424,6 +435,12 @@ ostream & operator<<(ostream & os, MathRow::Element const & e)
 		if (e.inset)
 			os << "]";
 		break;
+	case MathRow::BEGIN_SEL:
+		os << "<sel>";
+		break;
+	case MathRow::END_SEL:
+		os << "</sel>" ;
+		break;
 	case MathRow::BOX:
 		os << "<" << e.before << "-[]-" << e.after << ">";
 		break;
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathRow.h b/src/mathed/MathRow.h
index 9efab92e85..2678ac4e23 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathRow.h
+++ b/src/mathed/MathRow.h
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ public:
 		BOX, // an empty box
 		BEGIN, // an inset and/or a math array begins here
 		END, // an inset and/or a math array ends here
+		BEGIN_SEL, // the selection begins here
+		END_SEL, // the selection ends here
 		DUMMY // a dummy element (used before or after row)
 	};