diff --git a/src/frontends/qt/GuiLyXFiles.cpp b/src/frontends/qt/GuiLyXFiles.cpp
index ab30295eea..a93000c3c6 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt/GuiLyXFiles.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt/GuiLyXFiles.cpp
@@ -613,7 +613,12 @@ void GuiLyXFiles::passParams(string const & data)
 
 void GuiLyXFiles::selectItem(QString const & item)
 {
-	QList<QTreeWidgetItem *> twi = filesLW->findItems(item, Qt::MatchExactly | Qt::MatchRecursive);
+	/* Using an intermediary variable flags is needed up to at least
+	 * Qt 5.5 because of a subtle namespace issue. See:
+	 *   https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10755058/qflags-enum-type-conversion-fails-all-of-a-sudden
+	 * for details.*/
+	Qt::MatchFlags const flags(Qt::MatchExactly|Qt::MatchRecursive);
+	QList<QTreeWidgetItem *> twi = filesLW->findItems(item, flags);
 	if (!twi.isEmpty())
 		twi.first()->setSelected(true);
 }