diff --git a/src/compositor/meta-surface-actor.c b/src/compositor/meta-surface-actor.c
index b51a5a77c..2e50a0e3f 100644
--- a/src/compositor/meta-surface-actor.c
+++ b/src/compositor/meta-surface-actor.c
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ meta_surface_actor_pick (ClutterActor       *actor,
 {
   MetaSurfaceActor *self = META_SURFACE_ACTOR (actor);
   MetaSurfaceActorPrivate *priv = self->priv;
+  ClutterActorIter iter;
+  ClutterActor *child;
 
   if (!clutter_actor_should_pick_paint (actor))
     return;
@@ -65,8 +67,6 @@ meta_surface_actor_pick (ClutterActor       *actor,
       CoglContext *ctx;
       CoglFramebuffer *fb;
       CoglColor cogl_color;
-      ClutterActorIter iter;
-      ClutterActor *child;
 
       n_rects = cairo_region_num_rectangles (priv->input_region);
       rectangles = g_alloca (sizeof (float) * 4 * n_rects);
@@ -93,12 +93,12 @@ meta_surface_actor_pick (ClutterActor       *actor,
       cogl_pipeline_set_color (pipeline, &cogl_color);
       cogl_framebuffer_draw_rectangles (fb, pipeline, rectangles, n_rects);
       cogl_object_unref (pipeline);
-
-      clutter_actor_iter_init (&iter, actor);
-
-      while (clutter_actor_iter_next (&iter, &child))
-        clutter_actor_paint (child);
     }
+
+  clutter_actor_iter_init (&iter, actor);
+
+  while (clutter_actor_iter_next (&iter, &child))
+    clutter_actor_paint (child);
 }
 
 static void