diff --git a/src/core/display.c b/src/core/display.c
index eced28740..2313c8823 100644
--- a/src/core/display.c
+++ b/src/core/display.c
@@ -825,8 +825,6 @@ meta_display_open (void)
 
   enable_compositor (the_display);
    
-  meta_display_grab (the_display);
-  
   /* Now manage all existing windows */
   tmp = the_display->screens;
   while (tmp != NULL)
@@ -894,8 +892,6 @@ meta_display_open (void)
 
   meta_idle_monitor_init_dbus ();
 
-  meta_display_ungrab (the_display);
-
   /* Done opening new display */
   the_display->display_opening = FALSE;
 
diff --git a/src/core/screen.c b/src/core/screen.c
index 2fc9bfef2..939412544 100644
--- a/src/core/screen.c
+++ b/src/core/screen.c
@@ -887,8 +887,6 @@ meta_screen_manage_all_windows (MetaScreen *screen)
   MetaStackWindow *children;
   int n_children, i;
 
-  meta_display_grab (screen->display);
-
   if (screen->guard_window == None)
     screen->guard_window =
       meta_screen_create_guard_window (screen->display->xdisplay, screen);
@@ -907,8 +905,6 @@ meta_screen_manage_all_windows (MetaScreen *screen)
 
   g_free (children);
   meta_stack_thaw (screen->stack);
-
-  meta_display_ungrab (screen->display);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/core/window.c b/src/core/window.c
index db34afe89..5739367de 100644
--- a/src/core/window.c
+++ b/src/core/window.c
@@ -1329,12 +1329,6 @@ meta_window_new_shared (MetaDisplay         *display,
 
   window->constructing = FALSE;
 
-  return window;
-}
-
-static void
-display_notify_window (MetaDisplay *display, MetaWindow *window)
-{
   meta_display_notify_window_created (display, window);
 
   if (window->wm_state_demands_attention)
@@ -1342,6 +1336,8 @@ display_notify_window (MetaDisplay *display, MetaWindow *window)
 
   if (window->wm_hints_urgent)
     g_signal_emit_by_name (window->display, "window-marked-urgent", window);
+
+  return window;
 }
 
 MetaWindow *
@@ -1376,15 +1372,12 @@ meta_window_new_for_wayland (MetaDisplay        *display,
   attrs.override_redirect = 0;
   attrs.screen = scr->xscreen;
 
-  /* XXX: Note: In the Wayland case we currently still grab the
-   * xserver and trap X errors while creating a MetaWindow because we
-   * will still be making various redundant X requests (passing a
-   * window xid of None) until we thoroughly audit all the code to
-   * make sure it knows about non X based clients...
+  /* XXX: Note: In the Wayland case we currently still trap X errors while
+   * creating a MetaWindow because we will still be making various redundant
+   * X requests (passing a window xid of None) until we thoroughly audit all
+   * the code to make sure it knows about non X based clients...
    */
 
-  /* Grab server */
-  meta_display_grab (display);
   meta_error_trap_push (display); /* Push a trap over all of window
                                    * creation, to reduce XSync() calls
                                    */
@@ -1400,14 +1393,12 @@ meta_window_new_for_wayland (MetaDisplay        *display,
                                    &attrs);
 
   meta_error_trap_pop (display); /* pop the XSync()-reducing trap */
-  meta_display_ungrab (display);
 
   /* XXX: Maybe this could be called in meta_window_new_shared() but
    * before splitting the X11 specific code out it came after the
-   * meta_display_ungrab() and we wanted to minimize the risk of
+   * meta_error_trap_pop() and we wanted to minimize the risk of
    * breaking something.
    */
-  display_notify_window (window->display, window);
 
   return window;
 }
@@ -1434,11 +1425,14 @@ meta_window_new (MetaDisplay       *display,
       return NULL;
     }
 
-  /* Grab server */
-  meta_display_grab (display);
   meta_error_trap_push (display); /* Push a trap over all of window
                                    * creation, to reduce XSync() calls
                                    */
+  /*
+   * This function executes without any server grabs held. This means that
+   * the window could have already gone away, or could go away at any point,
+   * so we must be careful with X error handling.
+   */
 
   if (!XGetWindowAttributes (display->xdisplay, xwindow, &attrs))
     {
@@ -1581,20 +1575,11 @@ meta_window_new (MetaDisplay       *display,
                                    &attrs);
 
   meta_error_trap_pop (display); /* pop the XSync()-reducing trap */
-  meta_display_ungrab (display);
-
-  /* XXX: Maybe this could be called in meta_window_new_shared() but
-   * before splitting the X11 specific code out it came after the
-   * meta_display_ungrab() and we wanted to minimize the risk of
-   * breaking something.
-   */
-  display_notify_window (display, window);
 
   return window;
 
 error:
   meta_error_trap_pop (display);
-  meta_display_ungrab (display);
   return NULL;
 }