GIMP :: Can't Direct Keyboard Input To Foreground Window On OS X

I am having a serious problem with gimp on my mackbook pro, running os x mavericks, but the problem also existed in mountain lion.

When any dialog box appears where there is a text box for keyboard input, the keystrokes go to the background gimp main window instead of the foreground dialog box. So it's impossible, for example, to type in a new file name on a save as dialog box. Another example is it's impossible to type in an image width in the scale image dialog box. This is true of all the dialog boxes I've checked.

This makes gimp practically unusable on a mac, and is therefore a serious problem. I know of a workaround that involves typing in data into the mac text editor and pasting it into gimp dialog boxes, but that's ugly and unacceptable.