diff --git a/libs/backends/alsa/alsa_audiobackend.cc b/libs/backends/alsa/alsa_audiobackend.cc
index a18d58ee58..8befb9219c 100644
--- a/libs/backends/alsa/alsa_audiobackend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/alsa/alsa_audiobackend.cc
@@ -1256,9 +1256,11 @@ AlsaAudioBackend::midi_event_put (
 	assert (buffer && port_buffer);
 	AlsaMidiBuffer& dst = * static_cast<AlsaMidiBuffer*>(port_buffer);
 	if (dst.size () && (pframes_t)dst.back ()->timestamp () > timestamp) {
+#ifndef NDEBUG
+		// nevermind, ::get_buffer() sorts events
 		fprintf (stderr, "AlsaMidiBuffer: it's too late for this event. %d > %d\n",
 				(pframes_t)dst.back ()->timestamp (), timestamp);
-		return -1;
+#endif
 	}
 	dst.push_back (boost::shared_ptr<AlsaMidiEvent>(new AlsaMidiEvent (timestamp, buffer, size)));
 	return 0;
diff --git a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
index 8946aea0a7..50477b6d08 100644
--- a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
@@ -1227,9 +1227,11 @@ CoreAudioBackend::midi_event_put (
 	if (!buffer || !port_buffer) return -1;
 	CoreMidiBuffer& dst = * static_cast<CoreMidiBuffer*>(port_buffer);
 	if (dst.size () && (pframes_t)dst.back ()->timestamp () > timestamp) {
-		fprintf (stderr, "CoreMidiBuffer: it's too late for this event. %d > %d\n",
+#ifndef NDEBUG
+		// nevermind, ::get_buffer() sorts events
+		fprintf (stderr, "CoreMidiBuffer: unordered event: %d > %d\n",
 				(pframes_t)dst.back ()->timestamp (), timestamp);
-		return -1;
+#endif
 	}
 	dst.push_back (boost::shared_ptr<CoreMidiEvent>(new CoreMidiEvent (timestamp, buffer, size)));
 	return 0;
diff --git a/libs/backends/dummy/dummy_audiobackend.cc b/libs/backends/dummy/dummy_audiobackend.cc
index 462f1b9dc3..cf49c7d5e8 100644
--- a/libs/backends/dummy/dummy_audiobackend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/dummy/dummy_audiobackend.cc
@@ -981,8 +981,8 @@ DummyAudioBackend::midi_event_put (
 	assert (buffer && port_buffer);
 	DummyMidiBuffer& dst = * static_cast<DummyMidiBuffer*>(port_buffer);
 	if (dst.size () && (pframes_t)dst.back ()->timestamp () > timestamp) {
+		// nevermind, ::get_buffer() sorts events, but always print warning
 		fprintf (stderr, "DummyMidiBuffer: it's too late for this event.\n");
-		return -1;
 	}
 	dst.push_back (boost::shared_ptr<DummyMidiEvent>(new DummyMidiEvent (timestamp, buffer, size)));
 	return 0;