diff --git a/tests/visual/dialog/complex-dialogs.html b/tests/visual/dialog/complex-dialogs.html
index 2b9a0d3a6..8e5d84d3d 100644
--- a/tests/visual/dialog/complex-dialogs.html
+++ b/tests/visual/dialog/complex-dialogs.html
@@ -25,7 +25,15 @@
 		var dialog = $( "#dialog" ).dialog({
 				modal: true,
 				height: 300,
-				width: 500
+				width: 500,
+				buttons: [
+					{
+						text: "Ok"
+					},
+					{
+						text: "Cancel"
+					}
+				]
 			}),
 
 			datepickerDialog = $( "#dialog-datepicker" ).dialog({
diff --git a/ui/jquery.ui.dialog.js b/ui/jquery.ui.dialog.js
index d4f03af60..79aae52ab 100644
--- a/ui/jquery.ui.dialog.js
+++ b/ui/jquery.ui.dialog.js
@@ -123,16 +123,8 @@ $.widget("ui.dialog", {
 				.addClass( "ui-dialog-content ui-widget-content" )
 				.appendTo( this.uiDialog );
 
-			this._createTitlebar();
-
-			// TODO extract this one and the next into a _createButtonPane method
-			uiDialogButtonPane = ( this.uiDialogButtonPane = $( "<div>" ) )
-				.addClass( "ui-dialog-buttonpane ui-widget-content ui-helper-clearfix" );
-
-			( this.uiButtonSet = $( "<div>" ) )
-				.addClass( "ui-dialog-buttonset" )
-				.appendTo( uiDialogButtonPane );
-
+		this._createTitlebar();
+		this._createButtonPane();
 
 		// TODO move into _createWrapper
 		// We assume that any existing aria-describedby attribute means
@@ -151,9 +143,6 @@ $.widget("ui.dialog", {
 			this._makeResizable();
 		}
 
-		// TODO merge with _createButtonPane?
-		this._createButtons();
-
 		this._isOpen = false;
 
 		// prevent tabbing out of dialogs
@@ -365,6 +354,17 @@ $.widget("ui.dialog", {
 		});
 	},
 
+	_createButtonPane: function() {
+		var uiDialogButtonPane = ( this.uiDialogButtonPane = $( "<div>" ) )
+			.addClass( "ui-dialog-buttonpane ui-widget-content ui-helper-clearfix" );
+
+		this.uiButtonSet = $( "<div>" )
+			.addClass( "ui-dialog-buttonset" )
+			.appendTo( uiDialogButtonPane );
+
+		this._createButtons();
+	},
+
 	_createButtons: function() {
 		var that = this,
 			buttons = this.options.buttons;