diff --git a/src/core/events.c b/src/core/events.c
index 1cbd6ba8f..aaf97f9f7 100644
--- a/src/core/events.c
+++ b/src/core/events.c
@@ -2124,13 +2124,17 @@ meta_display_handle_event (MetaDisplay        *display,
   return bypass_clutter;
 }
 
-static gboolean
-xevent_callback (XEvent  *event,
-                 gpointer data)
+static GdkFilterReturn
+xevent_filter (GdkXEvent *xevent,
+               GdkEvent  *event,
+               gpointer   data)
 {
   MetaDisplay *display = data;
 
-  return meta_display_handle_xevent (display, event);
+  if (meta_display_handle_xevent (display, xevent))
+    return GDK_FILTER_REMOVE;
+  else
+    return GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE;
 }
 
 static gboolean
@@ -2145,9 +2149,7 @@ event_callback (const ClutterEvent *event,
 void
 meta_display_init_events (MetaDisplay *display)
 {
-  meta_ui_add_event_func (display->xdisplay,
-                          xevent_callback,
-                          display);
+  gdk_window_add_filter (NULL, xevent_filter, display);
   display->clutter_event_filter = clutter_event_add_filter (NULL,
                                                             event_callback,
                                                             NULL,
@@ -2157,9 +2159,7 @@ meta_display_init_events (MetaDisplay *display)
 void
 meta_display_free_events (MetaDisplay *display)
 {
-  meta_ui_remove_event_func (display->xdisplay,
-                             xevent_callback,
-                             display);
+  gdk_window_remove_filter (NULL, xevent_filter, display);
   clutter_event_remove_filter (display->clutter_event_filter);
   display->clutter_event_filter = 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/ui/ui.c b/src/ui/ui.c
index 1a19838f4..822eff5cf 100644
--- a/src/ui/ui.c
+++ b/src/ui/ui.c
@@ -228,58 +228,17 @@ maybe_redirect_mouse_event (XEvent *xevent)
   return TRUE;
 }
 
-typedef struct _EventFunc EventFunc;
-
-struct _EventFunc
-{
-  MetaEventFunc func;
-  gpointer data;
-};
-
-static EventFunc *ef = NULL;
-
 static GdkFilterReturn
-filter_func (GdkXEvent *xevent,
-             GdkEvent *event,
-             gpointer data)
+ui_filter_func (GdkXEvent *xevent,
+                GdkEvent *event,
+                gpointer data)
 {
-  g_return_val_if_fail (ef != NULL, GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE);
-
-  if ((* ef->func) (xevent, ef->data) ||
-      maybe_redirect_mouse_event (xevent))
+  if (maybe_redirect_mouse_event (xevent))
     return GDK_FILTER_REMOVE;
   else
     return GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE;
 }
 
-void
-meta_ui_add_event_func (Display       *xdisplay,
-                        MetaEventFunc  func,
-                        gpointer       data)
-{
-  g_return_if_fail (ef == NULL);
-
-  ef = g_new (EventFunc, 1);
-  ef->func = func;
-  ef->data = data;
-
-  gdk_window_add_filter (NULL, filter_func, ef);
-}
-
-/* removal is by data due to proxy function */
-void
-meta_ui_remove_event_func (Display       *xdisplay,
-                           MetaEventFunc  func,
-                           gpointer       data)
-{
-  g_return_if_fail (ef != NULL);
-  
-  gdk_window_remove_filter (NULL, filter_func, ef);
-
-  g_free (ef);
-  ef = NULL;
-}
-
 MetaUI*
 meta_ui_new (Display *xdisplay,
              Screen  *screen)
@@ -294,6 +253,8 @@ meta_ui_new (Display *xdisplay,
   gdisplay = gdk_x11_lookup_xdisplay (xdisplay);
   g_assert (gdisplay == gdk_display_get_default ());
 
+  gdk_window_add_filter (NULL, ui_filter_func, NULL);
+
   ui->frames = meta_frames_new (XScreenNumberOfScreen (screen));
   /* GTK+ needs the frame-sync protocol to work in order to properly
    * handle style changes. This means that the dummy widget we create
@@ -303,6 +264,8 @@ meta_ui_new (Display *xdisplay,
    */
   gtk_widget_show (GTK_WIDGET (ui->frames));
 
+  gdk_window_add_filter (NULL, ui_filter_func, NULL);
+
   g_object_set_data (G_OBJECT (gdisplay), "meta-ui", ui);
 
   return ui;
@@ -318,6 +281,8 @@ meta_ui_free (MetaUI *ui)
   gdisplay = gdk_x11_lookup_xdisplay (ui->xdisplay);
   g_object_set_data (G_OBJECT (gdisplay), "meta-ui", NULL);
 
+  gdk_window_remove_filter (NULL, ui_filter_func, NULL);
+
   g_free (ui);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ui/ui.h b/src/ui/ui.h
index ca52f4c45..42b2b0975 100644
--- a/src/ui/ui.h
+++ b/src/ui/ui.h
@@ -46,13 +46,6 @@ Display* meta_ui_get_display (void);
 
 gint meta_ui_get_screen_number (void);
 
-void meta_ui_add_event_func    (Display       *xdisplay,
-                                MetaEventFunc  func,
-                                gpointer       data);
-void meta_ui_remove_event_func (Display       *xdisplay,
-                                MetaEventFunc  func,
-                                gpointer       data);
-
 MetaUI* meta_ui_new (Display *xdisplay,
                      Screen  *screen);
 void    meta_ui_free (MetaUI *ui);