Alt + scrolling does not work in non-selection modes

When in node editing mode, sometimes I need to edit an object below another object (e.g. an object's shadow). Alt+click is reserved by my window manager (and I'm not going to change that), so I use Alt + scroll to get to objects below. Unfortunately, this seems to only work in standard selection mode. It'd be nice if the behavior could be extended to other modes, or at least node editing mode, as well.