diff --git a/x.c b/x.c
index c80e772..c61ccbd 100644
--- a/x.c
+++ b/x.c
@@ -3740,6 +3740,13 @@ kpress(XEvent *ev)
 			len = 2;
 		}
 	}
+	if (len > 1 && len != 64 && e->state & Mod1Mask) {
+    // TODO: does this work with MODE_8BIT ?
+    for (int i = len; i != 0; i -= 1)
+      buf[i] = buf[i-1];
+    buf[0] = '\033';
+    len += 1;
+  }
 	ttywrite(buf, len, 1);
 }