diff --git a/test/eierpecken.c b/test/eierpecken.c
index 18baa41..2469eaf 100644
--- a/test/eierpecken.c
+++ b/test/eierpecken.c
@@ -791,15 +791,20 @@ _peck_dispatch_ei(struct peck *peck, int lineno)
 void
 _peck_dispatch_until_stable(struct peck *peck, int lineno)
 {
-	bool eis, ei;
+	int eis = 0, ei = 0;
 
 	log_debug(peck, "dispatching until stable (line %d) {\n", lineno);
 	peck_indent(peck);
 
+	/* we go two dispatch loops for both ei and EIS before we say it's
+	 * stable. With the DEVICE_REGION/KEYMAP/DONE event split we may
+	 * get events on the wire that don't result in an actual event
+	 * yet, so we can get stuck if we just wait for one.
+	 */
 	do {
-		eis = _peck_dispatch_eis(peck, lineno);
-		ei = _peck_dispatch_ei(peck, lineno);
-	} while (ei || eis);
+		eis = _peck_dispatch_eis(peck, lineno) ? 0 : eis + 1;
+		ei = _peck_dispatch_ei(peck, lineno) ? 0 : ei + 1;
+	} while (ei <= 2 || eis <= 2);
 
 	peck_dedent(peck);
 	log_debug(peck, "}\n", lineno);