diff --git a/src/org/thialfihar/android/apg/SelectPublicKeyListActivity.java b/src/org/thialfihar/android/apg/SelectPublicKeyListActivity.java
index 495e57742..fbb0b6fe0 100644
--- a/src/org/thialfihar/android/apg/SelectPublicKeyListActivity.java
+++ b/src/org/thialfihar/android/apg/SelectPublicKeyListActivity.java
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ public class SelectPublicKeyListActivity extends BaseActivity {
         }
 
         mList = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.list);
+        // needed in Android 1.5, where the XML attribute gets ignored
+        mList.setChoiceMode(ListView.CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE);
+
         Vector<PGPPublicKeyRing> keyRings =
                 (Vector<PGPPublicKeyRing>) Apg.getPublicKeyRings().clone();
         Collections.sort(keyRings, new Apg.PublicKeySorter());