diff --git a/kitty/data-types.h b/kitty/data-types.h
index 7de3bb8d4..efd374ed0 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.h
+++ b/kitty/data-types.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ typedef unsigned long long id_type;
 typedef uint32_t char_type;
 typedef uint32_t color_type;
 typedef uint16_t hyperlink_id_type;
+typedef int key_type;
 #define HYPERLINK_MAX_NUMBER UINT16_MAX
 typedef uint16_t combining_type;
 typedef uint32_t pixel;
diff --git a/kitty/glfw.c b/kitty/glfw.c
index 32c9e8e07..e970f2cba 100644
--- a/kitty/glfw.c
+++ b/kitty/glfw.c
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@ extern size_t cocoa_get_workspace_ids(void *w, size_t *workspace_ids, size_t arr
 extern monotonic_t cocoa_cursor_blink_interval(void);
 
 
-#if GLFW_KEY_LAST >= MAX_KEY_COUNT
-#error "glfw has too many keys, you should increase MAX_KEY_COUNT"
-#endif
-
 static GLFWcursor *standard_cursor = NULL, *click_cursor = NULL, *arrow_cursor = NULL;
 
 static void set_os_window_dpi(OSWindow *w);
@@ -261,9 +257,6 @@ key_callback(GLFWwindow *w, GLFWkeyevent *ev) {
         }
     }
     global_state.callback_os_window->cursor_blink_zero_time = monotonic();
-    if (ev->key >= 0 && ev->key <= GLFW_KEY_LAST) {
-        global_state.callback_os_window->is_key_pressed[ev->key] = ev->action == GLFW_RELEASE ? false : true;
-    }
     if (is_window_ready_for_callbacks()) on_key_input(ev);
     global_state.callback_os_window = NULL;
     request_tick_callback();
diff --git a/kitty/state.h b/kitty/state.h
index a260f160f..1b559155a 100644
--- a/kitty/state.h
+++ b/kitty/state.h
@@ -135,8 +135,6 @@ typedef struct {
     BorderRects border_rects;
 } Tab;
 
-#define MAX_KEY_COUNT 512
-
 typedef struct {
     int x, y, w, h;
     bool is_set;
@@ -173,7 +171,6 @@ typedef struct {
     double logical_dpi_x, logical_dpi_y, font_sz_in_pts;
     bool mouse_button_pressed[32];
     PyObject *window_title;
-    bool is_key_pressed[MAX_KEY_COUNT];
     bool viewport_size_dirty, viewport_updated_at_least_once;
     LiveResizeInfo live_resize;
     bool has_pending_resizes, is_semi_transparent, shown_once, is_damaged;