diff --git a/libs/canvas/canvas.cc b/libs/canvas/canvas.cc
index 72ad4ab035..8ad608ea5e 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/canvas.cc
+++ b/libs/canvas/canvas.cc
@@ -607,21 +607,7 @@ bool
 GtkCanvas::on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose* ev)
 {
 	Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context> cairo_context = get_window()->create_cairo_context ();
-
-	/* break into regions */
-
-	GdkRectangle *rects;
-	gint n_rects;
-
-	gdk_region_get_rectangles (ev->region, &rects, &n_rects);
-
-	for (gint i = 0; i < n_rects; ++i) {
-		Rect area (rects[i].x, rects[i].y, rects[i].x + rects[i].width, rects[i].y + rects[i].height);
-		render (area, cairo_context);
-	}
-
-	g_free (rects);
-
+	render (Rect (ev->area.x, ev->area.y, ev->area.x + ev->area.width, ev->area.y + ev->area.height), cairo_context);
 	return true;
 }