diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc b/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
index af2e275d28..aca3932712 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor_canvas.cc
@@ -83,8 +83,12 @@ Editor::initialize_canvas ()
 
 	_track_canvas->set_background_color (UIConfiguration::instance().color ("arrange base"));
 	_track_canvas->use_nsglview (UIConfiguration::instance().get_nsgl_view_mode () == NSGLHiRes);
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+	// as of april 12 2024 on X Window and Windows, setting this to false
+	// causes redraw errors, but not on macOS as far as we can tell
 	_track_canvas->set_single_exposure (false);
-	
+#endif
+
 	/* scroll group for items that should not automatically scroll
 	 *  (e.g verbose cursor). It shares the canvas coordinate space.
 	*/