diff --git a/src/GLView.cc b/src/GLView.cc
index 1d3e0644..9c9e905b 100644
--- a/src/GLView.cc
+++ b/src/GLView.cc
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ void GLView::paintGL()
     // ...the axis lines need to follow the object translation.
     if (showaxes) GLView::showAxes(bgcontrast);
     // mark the scale along the axis lines
-    if (showscale) GLView::showScalemarkers(bgcontrast);
+    if (showaxes && showscale) GLView::showScalemarkers(bgcontrast);
   }
 
   glEnable(GL_LIGHTING);
diff --git a/src/mainwin.cc b/src/mainwin.cc
index 5bea5e12..1dec6ad0 100644
--- a/src/mainwin.cc
+++ b/src/mainwin.cc
@@ -2270,9 +2270,11 @@ void MainWindow::viewModeShowEdges()
 
 void MainWindow::viewModeShowAxes()
 {
+	bool showaxes = viewActionShowAxes->isChecked();
 	QSettings settings;
-	settings.setValue("view/showAxes",viewActionShowAxes->isChecked());
-	this->qglview->setShowAxes(viewActionShowAxes->isChecked());
+	settings.setValue("view/showAxes", showaxes);
+	this->viewActionShowScaleProportional->setEnabled(showaxes);
+	this->qglview->setShowAxes(showaxes);
 	this->qglview->updateGL();
 }