diff --git a/include/libweston/libweston.h b/include/libweston/libweston.h
index 111d5ccab..b73397ee5 100644
--- a/include/libweston/libweston.h
+++ b/include/libweston/libweston.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ struct weston_animation {
 	void (*frame)(struct weston_animation *animation,
 		      struct weston_output *output,
 		      const struct timespec *time);
-	int frame_counter;
 	struct wl_list link;
 };
 
diff --git a/libweston/animation.c b/libweston/animation.c
index 3d8cc7a20..020bb6fa8 100644
--- a/libweston/animation.c
+++ b/libweston/animation.c
@@ -199,7 +199,19 @@ weston_view_animation_frame(struct weston_animation *base,
 	struct weston_compositor *compositor =
 		animation->view->surface->compositor;
 
-	if (base->frame_counter <= 1)
+	/* Animations are created with timestamp 0, so we need to set a
+	 * real time base on the first repaint.
+	 *
+	 * In some cases, such as when the repaint loop has just started
+	 * for a new display, the time we're given could be 0 for our
+	 * second call - but this is ok because weston_spring_update() will
+	 * do nothing as long as spring.timestamp == time.
+	 *
+	 * We can safely just keep updating the timestamp until we get
+	 * something non-zero, and the spring will start updating after
+	 * that.
+	 */
+	if (!timespec_to_msec(&animation->spring.timestamp))
 		animation->spring.timestamp = *time;
 
 	weston_spring_update(&animation->spring, time);
@@ -275,7 +287,6 @@ weston_view_animation_run(struct weston_view_animation *animation)
 {
 	struct timespec zero_time = { 0 };
 
-	animation->animation.frame_counter = 0;
 	weston_view_animation_frame(&animation->animation, NULL, &zero_time);
 }
 
diff --git a/libweston/compositor.c b/libweston/compositor.c
index b193a5650..9d99f8804 100644
--- a/libweston/compositor.c
+++ b/libweston/compositor.c
@@ -3737,10 +3737,8 @@ weston_output_repaint(struct weston_output *output)
 		wl_resource_destroy(cb);
 	}
 
-	wl_list_for_each_safe(animation, next, &output->animation_list, link) {
-		animation->frame_counter++;
+	wl_list_for_each_safe(animation, next, &output->animation_list, link)
 		animation->frame(animation, output, &output->frame_time);
-	}
 
 	weston_output_capture_info_repaint_done(output->capture_info);