diff --git a/src/core/keybindings.c b/src/core/keybindings.c
index 6684d4f48..68f32b0bc 100644
--- a/src/core/keybindings.c
+++ b/src/core/keybindings.c
@@ -1407,7 +1407,7 @@ meta_display_grab_accelerator (MetaDisplay *display,
   MetaKeyCombo combo;
   MetaKeyDevirtCombo devirt_combo;
 
-  if (!meta_parse_accelerator (accelerator, &combo.keysym, &combo.keycode, &combo.modifiers))
+  if (!meta_parse_accelerator (accelerator, &combo))
     {
       meta_topic (META_DEBUG_KEYBINDINGS,
                   "Failed to parse accelerator\n");
diff --git a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
index f4c5ee0bb..e32f6b940 100644
--- a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
+++ b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include "meta-accel-parse.h"
+#include "keybindings-private.h"
 
 #include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -173,21 +174,16 @@ is_keycode (const gchar *string)
 
 static gboolean
 accelerator_parse (const gchar         *accelerator,
-                   guint               *accelerator_key,
-                   guint               *accelerator_keycode,
-                   MetaVirtualModifier *accelerator_mods)
+                   MetaKeyCombo        *combo)
 {
   gboolean error = FALSE;
   guint keyval, keycode;
   MetaVirtualModifier mods;
   gint len;
 
-  if (accelerator_key)
-    *accelerator_key = 0;
-  if (accelerator_keycode)
-    *accelerator_keycode = 0;
-  if (accelerator_mods)
-    *accelerator_mods = 0;
+  combo->keysym = 0;
+  combo->keycode = 0;
+  combo->modifiers = 0;
 
   if (accelerator == NULL)
     {
@@ -330,34 +326,35 @@ out:
   if (error)
     return FALSE;
 
-  if (accelerator_key)
-    *accelerator_key = keyval;
-  if (accelerator_keycode)
-    *accelerator_keycode = keycode;
-  if (accelerator_mods)
-    *accelerator_mods = mods;
+  combo->keysym = keyval;
+  combo->keycode = keycode;
+  combo->modifiers = mods;
 
   return TRUE;
 }
 
 gboolean
-meta_parse_accelerator (const char          *accel,
-                        unsigned int        *keysym,
-                        unsigned int        *keycode,
-                        MetaVirtualModifier *mask)
+meta_parse_accelerator (const char   *accel,
+                        MetaKeyCombo *combo)
 {
   if (!accel[0] || strcmp (accel, "disabled") == 0)
     return TRUE;
 
-  return accelerator_parse (accel, keysym, keycode, mask);
+  return accelerator_parse (accel, combo);
 }
 
 gboolean
 meta_parse_modifier (const char          *accel,
                      MetaVirtualModifier *mask)
 {
+  MetaKeyCombo combo;
+
   if (accel == NULL || !accel[0] || strcmp (accel, "disabled") == 0)
     return TRUE;
 
-  return accelerator_parse (accel, NULL, NULL, mask);
+  if (!accelerator_parse (accel, &combo))
+    return FALSE;
+
+  *mask = combo.modifiers;
+  return TRUE;
 }
diff --git a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.h b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.h
index 1d58375e6..54b4d3d93 100644
--- a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.h
+++ b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.h
@@ -27,16 +27,16 @@
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <meta/common.h>
 
+typedef struct _MetaKeyCombo MetaKeyCombo;
+
 /* Not a real key symbol but means "key above the tab key"; this is
  * used as the default keybinding for cycle_group.
  * 0x2xxxxxxx is a range not used by GDK or X. the remaining digits are
  * randomly chosen */
 #define META_KEY_ABOVE_TAB 0x2f7259c9
 
-gboolean meta_parse_accelerator (const char          *accel,
-                                 unsigned int        *keysym,
-                                 unsigned int        *keycode,
-                                 MetaVirtualModifier *mask);
+gboolean meta_parse_accelerator (const char   *accel,
+                                 MetaKeyCombo *combo);
 gboolean meta_parse_modifier    (const char          *accel,
                                  MetaVirtualModifier *mask);
 
diff --git a/src/core/prefs.c b/src/core/prefs.c
index ff38f14bd..85432a075 100644
--- a/src/core/prefs.c
+++ b/src/core/prefs.c
@@ -1672,10 +1672,7 @@ overlay_key_handler (GVariant *value,
   *result = NULL; /* ignored */
   string_value = g_variant_get_string (value, NULL);
 
-  if (string_value && meta_parse_accelerator (string_value,
-                                              &combo.keysym,
-                                              &combo.keycode,
-                                              NULL))
+  if (string_value && meta_parse_accelerator (string_value, &combo))
     ;
   else
     {
@@ -1684,6 +1681,8 @@ overlay_key_handler (GVariant *value,
       return FALSE;
     }
 
+  combo.modifiers = 0;
+
   if (overlay_key_combo.keysym != combo.keysym ||
       overlay_key_combo.keycode != combo.keycode)
     {
@@ -1916,10 +1915,6 @@ update_binding (MetaKeyPref *binding,
 {
   GSList *old_combos, *a, *b;
   gboolean changed;
-  unsigned int keysym;
-  unsigned int keycode;
-  MetaVirtualModifier mods;
-  MetaKeyCombo *combo;
   int i;
 
   meta_topic (META_DEBUG_KEYBINDINGS,
@@ -1931,31 +1926,25 @@ update_binding (MetaKeyPref *binding,
 
   for (i = 0; strokes && strokes[i]; i++)
     {
-      keysym = 0;
-      keycode = 0;
-      mods = 0;
+      MetaKeyCombo *combo;
 
-      if (!meta_parse_accelerator (strokes[i], &keysym, &keycode, &mods))
+      combo = g_malloc0 (sizeof (MetaKeyCombo));
+
+      if (!meta_parse_accelerator (strokes[i], combo))
         {
           meta_topic (META_DEBUG_KEYBINDINGS,
                       "Failed to parse new GSettings value\n");
           meta_warning ("\"%s\" found in configuration database is not a valid value for keybinding \"%s\"\n",
                         strokes[i], binding->name);
 
+          g_free (combo);
+
           /* Value is kept and will thus be removed next time we save the key.
            * Changing the key in response to a modification could lead to cyclic calls. */
           continue;
         }
 
-      combo = g_malloc0 (sizeof (MetaKeyCombo));
-      combo->keysym = keysym;
-      combo->keycode = keycode;
-      combo->modifiers = mods;
       binding->combos = g_slist_prepend (binding->combos, combo);
-
-      meta_topic (META_DEBUG_KEYBINDINGS,
-                      "New keybinding for \"%s\" is keysym = 0x%x keycode = 0x%x mods = 0x%x\n",
-                      binding->name, keysym, keycode, mods);
     }
 
   binding->combos = g_slist_reverse (binding->combos);