diff --git a/src/x11/events.c b/src/x11/events.c
index 3362f5c6f..1584afb7c 100644
--- a/src/x11/events.c
+++ b/src/x11/events.c
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ meta_spew_event (MetaDisplay *display,
     g_free (extra);
 }
 
-static void
+static gboolean
 handle_window_focus_event (MetaDisplay  *display,
                            MetaWindow   *window,
                            XIEnterEvent *event)
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ handle_window_focus_event (MetaDisplay  *display,
     {
       meta_topic (META_DEBUG_FOCUS,
                   "Ignoring focus event generated by a grab or other weirdness\n");
-      return;
+      return FALSE;
     }
 
   if (event->evtype == XI_FocusIn)
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ handle_window_focus_event (MetaDisplay  *display,
           /* This event means the client moved focus to a subwindow */
           meta_topic (META_DEBUG_FOCUS,
                       "Ignoring focus out with NotifyInferior\n");
-          return;
+          return FALSE;
         }
 
       display->server_focus_window = None;
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ handle_window_focus_event (MetaDisplay  *display,
       focus_window = NULL;
     }
   else
-    g_return_if_reached ();
+    g_assert_not_reached ();
 
   /* If display->focused_by_us, then the focus_serial will be used only
    * for a focus change we made and have already accounted for.
@@ -791,6 +791,11 @@ handle_window_focus_event (MetaDisplay  *display,
                                         focus_window ? focus_window->xwindow : None,
                                         display->server_focus_serial,
                                         FALSE);
+      return TRUE;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      return FALSE;
     }
 }
 
@@ -874,13 +879,9 @@ handle_input_xevent (MetaDisplay *display,
       break;
     case XI_FocusIn:
     case XI_FocusOut:
-      handle_window_focus_event (display, window, enter_event);
-      if (!window)
+      if (handle_window_focus_event (display, window, enter_event) &&
+          enter_event->event == enter_event->root)
         {
-          /* Check if the window is a root window. */
-          if (enter_event->root != enter_event->event)
-            break;
-
           if (enter_event->evtype == XI_FocusIn &&
               enter_event->detail == XINotifyDetailNone)
             {