diff --git a/hw/xwin/winclipboard/thread.c b/hw/xwin/winclipboard/thread.c
index be053574d..786b88972 100644
--- a/hw/xwin/winclipboard/thread.c
+++ b/hw/xwin/winclipboard/thread.c
@@ -255,22 +255,25 @@ winClipboardProc(Bool fUseUnicode, char *szDisplay)
         }
     }
 
-    /* Pre-flush X events */
-    /*
-     * NOTE: Apparently you'll freeze if you don't do this,
-     *       because there may be events in local data structures
-     *       already.
-     */
     data.fUseUnicode = fUseUnicode;
-    winClipboardFlushXEvents(hwnd, iWindow, pDisplay, &data, &atoms);
 
-    /* Pre-flush Windows messages */
-    if (!winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue(hwnd)) {
-        ErrorF("winClipboardProc - winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue failed\n");
-    }
-
-    /* Loop for X events */
+    /* Loop for events */
     while (1) {
+
+        /* Process X events */
+        winClipboardFlushXEvents(hwnd,
+                                 iWindow, pDisplay, &data, &atoms);
+
+        /* Process Windows messages */
+        if (!winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue(hwnd)) {
+          ErrorF("winClipboardProc - winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue trapped "
+                       "WM_QUIT message, exiting main loop.\n");
+          break;
+        }
+
+        /* We need to ensure that all pending requests are sent */
+        XFlush(pDisplay);
+
         /* Setup the file descriptor set */
         /*
          * NOTE: You have to do this before every call to select
@@ -317,10 +320,9 @@ winClipboardProc(Bool fUseUnicode, char *szDisplay)
             break;
         }
 
-        /* Branch on which descriptor became active */
         if (FD_ISSET(iConnectionNumber, &fdsRead)) {
-            /* Process X events */
-            winClipboardFlushXEvents(hwnd, iWindow, pDisplay, &data, &atoms);
+            winDebug
+                ("winClipboardProc - X connection ready, pumping X event queue\n");
         }
 
 #ifdef HAS_DEVWINDOWS
@@ -330,14 +332,16 @@ winClipboardProc(Bool fUseUnicode, char *szDisplay)
         if (1)
 #endif
         {
-            /* Process Windows messages */
-            if (!winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue(hwnd)) {
-                ErrorF("winClipboardProc - "
-                       "winClipboardFlushWindowsMessageQueue trapped "
-                       "WM_QUIT message, exiting main loop.\n");
-                break;
-            }
+            winDebug
+                ("winClipboardProc - /dev/windows ready, pumping Windows message queue\n");
         }
+
+#ifdef HAS_DEVWINDOWS
+        if (!(FD_ISSET(iConnectionNumber, &fdsRead)) &&
+            !(FD_ISSET(fdMessageQueue, &fdsRead))) {
+            winDebug("winClipboardProc - Spurious wake, select() returned %d\n", iReturn);
+        }
+#endif
     }
 
  winClipboardProc_Exit:
diff --git a/hw/xwin/winclipboard/wndproc.c b/hw/xwin/winclipboard/wndproc.c
index 23a0ac9bf..b63a1dc5c 100644
--- a/hw/xwin/winclipboard/wndproc.c
+++ b/hw/xwin/winclipboard/wndproc.c
@@ -83,8 +83,18 @@ winProcessXEventsTimeout(HWND hwnd, Window iWindow, Display * pDisplay,
         fd_set fdsRead;
         long remainingTime;
 
-        /* We need to ensure that all pending events are processed */
-        XSync(pDisplay, FALSE);
+        /* Process X events */
+        iReturn = winClipboardFlushXEvents(hwnd, iWindow, pDisplay, data, atoms);
+
+        winDebug("winProcessXEventsTimeout () - winClipboardFlushXEvents returned %d\n", iReturn);
+
+        if ((WIN_XEVENTS_NOTIFY_DATA == iReturn) || (WIN_XEVENTS_NOTIFY_TARGETS == iReturn) || (WIN_XEVENTS_FAILED == iReturn)) {
+          /* Bail out */
+          return iReturn;
+        }
+
+        /* We need to ensure that all pending requests are sent */
+        XFlush(pDisplay);
 
         /* Setup the file descriptor set */
         FD_ZERO(&fdsRead);
@@ -113,24 +123,8 @@ winProcessXEventsTimeout(HWND hwnd, Window iWindow, Display * pDisplay,
             break;
         }
 
-        /* Branch on which descriptor became active */
-        if (FD_ISSET(iConnNumber, &fdsRead)) {
-            /* Process X events */
-            /* Exit when we see that server is shutting down */
-            iReturn = winClipboardFlushXEvents(hwnd,
-                                               iWindow, pDisplay, data, atoms);
-
-            winDebug
-                ("winProcessXEventsTimeout () - winClipboardFlushXEvents returned %d\n",
-                 iReturn);
-
-            if ((WIN_XEVENTS_NOTIFY_DATA == iReturn) || (WIN_XEVENTS_NOTIFY_TARGETS == iReturn) || (WIN_XEVENTS_FAILED == iReturn)) {
-                /* Bail out */
-                return iReturn;
-            }
-        }
-        else {
-            winDebug("winProcessXEventsTimeout - Spurious wake\n");
+        if (!FD_ISSET(iConnNumber, &fdsRead)) {
+            winDebug("winProcessXEventsTimeout - Spurious wake, select() returned %d\n", iReturn);
         }
     }