diff --git a/hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/posix_tty.c b/hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/posix_tty.c
index 6249a625c..a795ae19d 100644
--- a/hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/posix_tty.c
+++ b/hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/posix_tty.c
@@ -394,6 +394,9 @@ xf86WaitForInput(int fd, int timeout)
     poll_fd.fd = fd;
     poll_fd.events = POLLIN;
 
+    /* convert microseconds to milliseconds */
+    timeout = (timeout + 999) / 1000;
+
     if (fd >= 0) {
         SYSCALL(r = xserver_poll(&poll_fd, 1, timeout));
     }