diff --git a/include/components/eventloop.hpp b/include/components/eventloop.hpp
index 1a3610aa..7c1908e2 100644
--- a/include/components/eventloop.hpp
+++ b/include/components/eventloop.hpp
@@ -390,12 +390,27 @@ namespace eventloop {
     cb_connect connect_callback;
   };
 
+  class PrepareHandle : public Handle<PrepareHandle, uv_prepare_t> {
+   public:
+    using Handle::Handle;
+    using cb = cb_void;
+
+    void init();
+    void start(cb user_cb);
+
+   private:
+    static void connect_cb(uv_connect_t* req, int status);
+
+    cb callback;
+  };
+
   class loop : public non_copyable_mixin, public non_movable_mixin {
    public:
     loop();
     ~loop();
     void run();
     void stop();
+    uint64_t now() const;
 
     template <typename H, typename... Args>
     H& handle(Args... args) {
@@ -404,13 +419,12 @@ namespace eventloop {
       return ptr->leak(std::move(ptr));
     }
 
-   protected:
     uv_loop_t* get() const;
 
    private:
     std::unique_ptr<uv_loop_t> m_loop{nullptr};
   };
 
-}  // namespace eventloop
+} // namespace eventloop
 
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diff --git a/lib/xpp b/lib/xpp
index 7a9960bb..343dc77d 160000
--- a/lib/xpp
+++ b/lib/xpp
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 7a9960bbb912f0ed66929c978aaeb1c30acf4bfd
+Subproject commit 343dc77d50bedab3c84b6e7cab70e1af2309eb0e
diff --git a/src/components/controller.cpp b/src/components/controller.cpp
index ba00ef1a..9fff6adb 100644
--- a/src/components/controller.cpp
+++ b/src/components/controller.cpp
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ void controller::conn_cb() {
   }
 
   shared_ptr<xcb_generic_event_t> evt{};
-  while ((evt = shared_ptr<xcb_generic_event_t>(xcb_poll_for_event(m_connection), free)) != nullptr) {
+  while ((evt = m_connection.poll_for_event()) != nullptr) {
     try {
       m_connection.dispatch_event(evt);
     } catch (xpp::connection_error& err) {
@@ -247,14 +247,25 @@ void controller::read_events(bool confwatch) {
   m_log.info("Entering event loop (thread-id=%lu)", this_thread::get_id());
 
   try {
-    auto& poll_handle = m_loop.handle<PollHandle>(m_connection.get_file_descriptor());
-    poll_handle.start(
+    auto& x_poll_handle = m_loop.handle<PollHandle>(m_connection.get_file_descriptor());
+    x_poll_handle.start(
         UV_READABLE, [this](const auto&) { conn_cb(); },
         [this](const auto& e) {
           m_log.err("libuv error while polling X connection: "s + uv_strerror(e.status));
           stop(false);
         });
 
+    auto& x_prepare_handle = m_loop.handle<PrepareHandle>();
+    x_prepare_handle.start([this]() {
+      /*
+       * We have to also handle events in the prepare handle (which runs right
+       * before polling for IO) to process any already queued X events which
+       * wouldn't trigger the uv_poll handle.
+       */
+      conn_cb();
+      m_connection.flush();
+    });
+
     for (auto s : {SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGTERM, SIGUSR1, SIGALRM}) {
       auto& signal_handle = m_loop.handle<SignalHandle>();
       signal_handle.start(s, [this](const auto& e) { signal_handler(e.signum); });
diff --git a/src/components/eventloop.cpp b/src/components/eventloop.cpp
index 623e3994..e48f7029 100644
--- a/src/components/eventloop.cpp
+++ b/src/components/eventloop.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ namespace eventloop {
       case UV_NAMED_PIPE:
         static_cast<PipeHandle*>(handle->data)->close();
         break;
+      case UV_PREPARE:
+        static_cast<PrepareHandle*>(handle->data)->close();
+        break;
       default:
         assert(false);
     }
@@ -157,6 +160,17 @@ namespace eventloop {
   }
   // }}}
 
+  // PrepareHandle {{{
+  void PrepareHandle::init() {
+    UV(uv_prepare_init, loop(), get());
+  }
+
+  void PrepareHandle::start(cb user_cb) {
+    this->callback = user_cb;
+    UV(uv_prepare_start, get(), void_event_cb<&PrepareHandle::callback>);
+  }
+  // }}}
+
   // eventloop {{{
   static void close_walk_cb(uv_handle_t* handle, void*) {
     if (!uv_is_closing(handle)) {
@@ -201,11 +215,15 @@ namespace eventloop {
     uv_stop(m_loop.get());
   }
 
+  uint64_t loop::now() const {
+    return uv_now(m_loop.get());
+  }
+
   uv_loop_t* loop::get() const {
     return m_loop.get();
   }
   // }}}
 
-}  // namespace eventloop
+} // namespace eventloop
 
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