diff --git a/docs/keyboard-protocol.rst b/docs/keyboard-protocol.rst
index b84faf8a8..e65426cdd 100644
--- a/docs/keyboard-protocol.rst
+++ b/docs/keyboard-protocol.rst
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ The shifted key is simply the upper-case version of ``unicode-codepoint``, or
 more technically, the shifted version. So `a` becomes `A` and so on, based on
 the current keyboard layout. This is needed to be able to match against a
 shortcut such as :kbd:`ctrl+plus` which depending on the type of keyboard could
-be either :kbd:`ctrl+shift+equal` or :kbd:`ctrl+plus`.
+be either :kbd:`ctrl+shift+equal` or :kbd:`ctrl+plus`. Note that the shifted
+key must be present only if shift is also present in the modifiers.
 
 The *base layout key* is the key corresponding to the physical key in the
 standard PC-101 key layout. So for example, if the user is using a Cyrillic
diff --git a/kitty/key_encoding.c b/kitty/key_encoding.c
index 5a735ee59..82d28a111 100644
--- a/kitty/key_encoding.c
+++ b/kitty/key_encoding.c
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ static inline void
 init_encoding_data(EncodingData *ans, const KeyEvent *ev) {
     ans->add_actions = ev->report_all_event_types && ev->action != PRESS;
     ans->has_mods = ev->mods.encoded[0] && ev->mods.encoded[0] != '1';
-    ans->add_alternates = ev->report_alternate_key && (ev->shifted_key > 0 || ev->alternate_key > 0);
-    if (ans->add_alternates) { ans->shifted_key = ev->shifted_key; ans->alternate_key = ev->alternate_key; }
+    ans->add_alternates = ev->report_alternate_key && ((ev->shifted_key > 0 && ev->mods.shift) || ev->alternate_key > 0);
+    if (ans->add_alternates) { if (ev->mods.shift) ans->shifted_key = ev->shifted_key; ans->alternate_key = ev->alternate_key; }
     ans->action = ev->action;
     ans->key = ev->key;
     memcpy(ans->encoded_mods, ev->mods.encoded, sizeof(ans->encoded_mods));
diff --git a/kitty/keys.py b/kitty/keys.py
index e5e3fc6e4..763b04a8e 100644
--- a/kitty/keys.py
+++ b/kitty/keys.py
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ from .typing import ScreenType
 
 
 def keyboard_mode_name(screen: ScreenType) -> str:
-    if screen.current_key_encoding_flags() & 0b1000:
+    flags = screen.current_key_encoding_flags()
+    if flags:
         return 'kitty'
     return 'application' if screen.cursor_key_mode else 'normal'
 
diff --git a/kitty_tests/keys.py b/kitty_tests/keys.py
index a65e221c6..f2271c08e 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/keys.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/keys.py
@@ -15,12 +15,20 @@ class TestKeys(BaseTest):
         shift, alt, ctrl, super = defines.GLFW_MOD_SHIFT, defines.GLFW_MOD_ALT, defines.GLFW_MOD_CONTROL, defines.GLFW_MOD_SUPER  # noqa
         press, repeat, release = defines.GLFW_PRESS, defines.GLFW_REPEAT, defines.GLFW_RELEASE  # noqa
 
-        def csi(mods=0, num=1, action=1, trailer='u'):
+        def csi(mods=0, num=1, action=1, shifted_key=0, alternate_key=0, trailer='u'):
             ans = '\033['
             if isinstance(num, str):
                 num = ord(num)
-            if num != 1 or mods:
+            if num != 1 or mods or shifted_key or alternate_key:
                 ans += f'{num}'
+            if shifted_key or alternate_key:
+                if isinstance(shifted_key, str):
+                    shifted_key = ord(shifted_key)
+                ans += ':' + (f'{shifted_key}' if shifted_key else '')
+                if alternate_key:
+                    if isinstance(alternate_key, str):
+                        alternate_key = ord(alternate_key)
+                    ans += f':{alternate_key}'
             if mods or action > 1:
                 m = 0
                 if mods & shift:
@@ -403,6 +411,14 @@ class TestKeys(BaseTest):
         ae(tq(ord('a'), action=defines.GLFW_RELEASE), csi(num='a', action=3))
         ae(tq(ord('a'), action=defines.GLFW_RELEASE, mods=shift), csi(shift, num='a', action=3))
 
+        # test alternate key reporting
+        aq = partial(enc, key_encoding_flags=0b100)
+        ae(aq(ord('a')), 'a')
+        ae(aq(ord('a'), shifted_key=ord('A')), 'a')
+        ae(aq(ord('a'), mods=shift, shifted_key=ord('A')), csi(shift, 'a', shifted_key='A'))
+        ae(aq(ord('a'), alternate_key=ord('A')), csi(num='a', alternate_key='A'))
+        ae(aq(ord('a'), mods=shift, shifted_key=ord('A'), alternate_key=ord('b')), csi(shift, 'a', shifted_key='A', alternate_key='b'))
+
     def test_encode_mouse_event(self):
         NORMAL_PROTOCOL, UTF8_PROTOCOL, SGR_PROTOCOL, URXVT_PROTOCOL = range(4)
         L, M, R = 1, 2, 3