diff --git a/docs/reference/gio/gio-sections.txt b/docs/reference/gio/gio-sections.txt
index dfc79d3df..ee72a683a 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gio/gio-sections.txt
+++ b/docs/reference/gio/gio-sections.txt
@@ -1291,6 +1291,7 @@ g_content_type_is_unknown
 g_content_type_get_description
 g_content_type_get_mime_type
 g_content_type_get_icon
+g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon
 g_content_type_can_be_executable
 g_content_type_from_mime_type
 g_content_type_guess
diff --git a/gio/gcontenttype.c b/gio/gcontenttype.c
index 2fd9ea85f..3ada6f065 100644
--- a/gio/gcontenttype.c
+++ b/gio/gcontenttype.c
@@ -393,34 +393,43 @@ g_content_type_get_mime_type (const char *type)
   return g_strdup (type);
 }
 
-/**
- * g_content_type_get_icon:
- * @type: a content type string
- *
- * Gets the icon for a content type.
- *
- * Returns: (transfer full): #GIcon corresponding to the content type. Free the returned
- *     object with g_object_unref()
- */
-GIcon *
-g_content_type_get_icon (const gchar *type)
+
+static GIcon *
+g_content_type_get_icon_internal (const gchar *type,
+                                  gboolean     symbolic)
 {
-  char *mimetype_icon, *generic_mimetype_icon, *q;
-  char *xdg_mimetype_icon, *legacy_mimetype_icon;
+  char *mimetype_icon;
+  char *generic_mimetype_icon;
+  char *q;
+  char *xdg_mimetype_icon;
+  char *legacy_mimetype_icon;
   char *xdg_mimetype_generic_icon;
   char *icon_names[5];
   int n = 0;
   const char *p;
   GIcon *themed_icon;
+  const char *file_template;
+  const char *generic_suffix;
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (type != NULL, NULL);
 
+  if (symbolic)
+    {
+      file_template = "%s-symbolic";
+      generic_suffix = "-x-generic-symbolic";
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      file_template = "%s";
+      generic_suffix = "-x-generic";
+    }
+
   G_LOCK (gio_xdgmime);
-  xdg_mimetype_icon = g_strdup (xdg_mime_get_icon (type));
-  xdg_mimetype_generic_icon = g_strdup (xdg_mime_get_generic_icon (type));
+  xdg_mimetype_icon = g_strdup_printf (file_template, xdg_mime_get_icon (type));
+  xdg_mimetype_generic_icon = g_strdup_printf (file_template, xdg_mime_get_generic_icon (type));
   G_UNLOCK (gio_xdgmime);
 
-  mimetype_icon = g_strdup (type);
+  mimetype_icon = g_strdup_printf (file_template, type);
 
   while ((q = strchr (mimetype_icon, '/')) != NULL)
     *q = '-';
@@ -432,10 +441,10 @@ g_content_type_get_icon (const gchar *type)
   /* Not all icons have migrated to the new icon theme spec, look for old names too */
   legacy_mimetype_icon = g_strconcat ("gnome-mime-", mimetype_icon, NULL);
 
-  generic_mimetype_icon = g_malloc (p - type + strlen ("-x-generic") + 1);
+  generic_mimetype_icon = g_malloc (p - type + strlen (generic_suffix) + 1);
   memcpy (generic_mimetype_icon, type, p - type);
-  memcpy (generic_mimetype_icon + (p - type), "-x-generic", strlen ("-x-generic"));
-  generic_mimetype_icon[(p - type) + strlen ("-x-generic")] = 0;
+  memcpy (generic_mimetype_icon + (p - type), generic_suffix, strlen (generic_suffix));
+  generic_mimetype_icon[(p - type) + strlen (generic_suffix)] = 0;
 
   if (xdg_mimetype_icon)
     icon_names[n++] = xdg_mimetype_icon;
@@ -459,6 +468,38 @@ g_content_type_get_icon (const gchar *type)
   return themed_icon;
 }
 
+/**
+ * g_content_type_get_icon:
+ * @type: a content type string
+ *
+ * Gets the icon for a content type.
+ *
+ * Returns: (transfer full): #GIcon corresponding to the content type. Free the returned
+ *     object with g_object_unref()
+ */
+GIcon *
+g_content_type_get_icon (const gchar *type)
+{
+  return g_content_type_get_icon_internal (type, FALSE);
+}
+
+/**
+ * g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon:
+ * @type: a content type string
+ *
+ * Gets the symbolic icon for a content type.
+ *
+ * Returns: (transfer full): symbolic #GIcon corresponding to the content type.
+ *     Free the returned object with g_object_unref()
+ *
+ * Since: 2.34
+ */
+GIcon *
+g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon (const gchar *type)
+{
+  return g_content_type_get_icon_internal (type, TRUE);
+}
+
 /**
  * g_content_type_can_be_executable:
  * @type: a content type string
diff --git a/gio/gcontenttype.h b/gio/gcontenttype.h
index 959e170f8..5e3d3ceb9 100644
--- a/gio/gcontenttype.h
+++ b/gio/gcontenttype.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ gboolean g_content_type_is_unknown        (const gchar  *type);
 gchar *  g_content_type_get_description   (const gchar  *type);
 gchar *  g_content_type_get_mime_type     (const gchar  *type);
 GIcon *  g_content_type_get_icon          (const gchar  *type);
+GIcon *  g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon (const gchar  *type);
 gboolean g_content_type_can_be_executable (const gchar  *type);
 
 gchar *  g_content_type_from_mime_type    (const gchar  *mime_type);
diff --git a/gio/gio.symbols b/gio/gio.symbols
index e366d9ca9..9b90a3693 100644
--- a/gio/gio.symbols
+++ b/gio/gio.symbols
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ g_content_type_is_unknown
 g_content_type_get_description
 g_content_type_get_mime_type
 g_content_type_get_icon
+g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon
 g_content_type_can_be_executable
 g_content_type_from_mime_type
 g_content_type_guess
diff --git a/gio/glocalfileinfo.c b/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
index 0d4c1b77d..ec1b9369e 100644
--- a/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
+++ b/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
@@ -1505,6 +1505,40 @@ get_icon_name (const char *path,
   return name;
 }
 
+static GIcon *
+get_icon (const char *path,
+          const char *content_type,
+          gboolean    is_folder,
+          gboolean    use_symbolic)
+{
+  GIcon *icon = NULL;
+  const char *icon_name;
+  gboolean with_fallbacks;
+
+  icon_name = get_icon_name (path, use_symbolic, &with_fallbacks);
+  if (icon_name != NULL)
+    {
+      if (with_fallbacks)
+        icon = g_themed_icon_new_with_default_fallbacks (icon_name);
+      else
+        icon = g_themed_icon_new (icon_name);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      if (use_symbolic)
+        icon = g_content_type_get_symbolic_icon (content_type);
+      else
+        icon = g_content_type_get_icon (content_type);
+
+      if (G_IS_THEMED_ICON (icon) && is_folder)
+        {
+          g_themed_icon_append_name (G_THEMED_ICON (icon), use_symbolic ? "folder-symbolic" : "folder");
+        }
+    }
+
+  return icon;
+}
+
 GFileInfo *
 _g_local_file_info_get (const char             *basename,
 			const char             *path,
@@ -1666,46 +1700,31 @@ _g_local_file_info_get (const char             *basename,
 
       if (content_type)
 	{
-          gboolean use_symbolics = FALSE;
-
 	  g_file_info_set_content_type (info, content_type);
 
-          use_symbolics = _g_file_attribute_matcher_matches_id (attribute_matcher,
-                                                                G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ID_STANDARD_SYMBOLIC_ICON);
-	  if (use_symbolics ||
-              _g_file_attribute_matcher_matches_id (attribute_matcher,
-                                                    G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ID_STANDARD_ICON))
+	  if (_g_file_attribute_matcher_matches_id (attribute_matcher,
+                                                     G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ID_STANDARD_ICON)
+               || _g_file_attribute_matcher_matches_id (attribute_matcher,
+                                                        G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ID_STANDARD_SYMBOLIC_ICON))
 	    {
 	      GIcon *icon;
-              gboolean with_fallbacks = TRUE;
-              const char *icon_name = get_icon_name (path, use_symbolics, &with_fallbacks);
-
-              if (icon_name != NULL)
-                {
-                  if (with_fallbacks)
-                    icon = g_themed_icon_new_with_default_fallbacks (icon_name);
-                  else
-                    icon = g_themed_icon_new (icon_name);
-                }
-              else
-                {
-                  icon = g_content_type_get_icon (content_type);
-                  if (G_IS_THEMED_ICON (icon))
-                    {
-                      const char *type_icon = NULL;
-
-                      if (S_ISDIR (statbuf.st_mode)) 
-                        type_icon = "folder";
-                      if (type_icon)
-                        g_themed_icon_append_name (G_THEMED_ICON (icon), type_icon);
-                    }
-                }
 
+              /* non symbolic icon */
+              icon = get_icon (path, content_type, S_ISDIR (statbuf.st_mode), FALSE);
               if (icon != NULL)
                 {
                   g_file_info_set_icon (info, icon);
                   g_object_unref (icon);
                 }
+
+              /* symbolic icon */
+              icon = get_icon (path, content_type, S_ISDIR (statbuf.st_mode), TRUE);
+              if (icon != NULL)
+                {
+                  g_file_info_set_symbolic_icon (info, icon);
+                  g_object_unref (icon);
+                }
+
 	    }
 	  
 	  g_free (content_type);