diff --git a/hw/dmx/dmxinit.c b/hw/dmx/dmxinit.c
index be0f61476..9a5caf3ef 100644
--- a/hw/dmx/dmxinit.c
+++ b/hw/dmx/dmxinit.c
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ void dmxCloseDisplay(DMXScreenInfo *dmxScreen)
 {
     RemoveEnabledDevice (dmxScreen->fd);
 
+    /* make sure all pending sync replies are processed */
+    dmxSync (dmxScreen, TRUE);
+
     XLIB_PROLOGUE (dmxScreen);
     XCloseDisplay (dmxScreen->beDisplay);
     XLIB_EPILOGUE (dmxScreen);