diff --git a/clutter/clutter/clutter-stage.c b/clutter/clutter/clutter-stage.c
index ca0ab44de..7aa46517c 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter/clutter-stage.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter/clutter-stage.c
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ struct _ClutterStagePrivate
 
   int update_freeze_count;
 
+  gboolean needs_update;
+
   guint redraw_pending         : 1;
   guint throttle_motion_events : 1;
   guint min_size_changed       : 1;
@@ -1308,7 +1310,9 @@ _clutter_stage_needs_update (ClutterStage *stage)
 
   priv = stage->priv;
 
-  return priv->redraw_pending || g_hash_table_size (priv->pending_relayouts) > 0;
+  return (priv->redraw_pending ||
+          priv->needs_update ||
+          g_hash_table_size (priv->pending_relayouts) > 0);
 }
 
 void
@@ -1499,6 +1503,8 @@ _clutter_stage_do_update (ClutterStage *stage)
 
   priv->stage_was_relayout = FALSE;
 
+  priv->needs_update = FALSE;
+
   /* if the stage is being destroyed, or if the destruction already
    * happened and we don't have an StageWindow any more, then we
    * should bail out
@@ -3453,6 +3459,8 @@ _clutter_stage_schedule_update (ClutterStage *stage)
   if (stage_window == NULL)
     return;
 
+  stage->priv->needs_update = TRUE;
+
   return _clutter_stage_window_schedule_update (stage_window,
                                                 stage->priv->sync_delay);
 }