diff --git a/glfw/cocoa_window.m b/glfw/cocoa_window.m
index 67afaa93b..fe2f3f3eb 100644
--- a/glfw/cocoa_window.m
+++ b/glfw/cocoa_window.m
@@ -1375,8 +1375,19 @@ is_ascii_control_char(char x) {
         selectedRange:(NSRange)selectedRange
      replacementRange:(NSRange)replacementRange
 {
-    debug_key("\n\tsetMarkedText: %s selectedRange: (%lu, %lu) replacementRange: (%lu, %lu)\n", polymorphic_string_as_utf8(string), selectedRange.location, selectedRange.length, replacementRange.location, replacementRange.length);
-    if (string == nil) { [self unmarkText]; return; }
+    const char *s = polymorphic_string_as_utf8(string);
+    debug_key("\n\tsetMarkedText: %s selectedRange: (%lu, %lu) replacementRange: (%lu, %lu)\n", s, selectedRange.location, selectedRange.length, replacementRange.location, replacementRange.length);
+    if (string == nil || !s[0]) {
+        bool had_marked_text = [self hasMarkedText];
+        [self unmarkText];
+        if (had_marked_text && !in_key_handler) {
+            debug_key("clearing pre-edit because setMarkedText called from event loop\n");
+            GLFWkeyevent glfw_keyevent = {.ime_state = GLFW_IME_PREEDIT_CHANGED};
+            _glfwInputKeyboard(window, &glfw_keyevent);
+            _glfw.ns.text[0] = 0;
+        }
+        return;
+    }
     if ([string isKindOfClass:[NSAttributedString class]]) {
         if (((NSMutableAttributedString*)string).length == 0) { [self unmarkText]; return; }
         [markedText release];
diff --git a/kitty/keys.c b/kitty/keys.c
index 5985182d9..4cda5e162 100644
--- a/kitty/keys.c
+++ b/kitty/keys.c
@@ -187,7 +187,8 @@ on_key_input(GLFWkeyevent *ev) {
             }
         }
         if (!w) return;
-    } else if (w->last_special_key_pressed == key) {
+    } else if (w->last_special_key_pressed == key && key != 0) {
+        // key == 0 is sent by the glfw coca backend when text is inserted by the IME outside the key handlers
         w->last_special_key_pressed = 0;
         debug("ignoring release event for previous press that was handled as shortcut\n");
         return;