diff --git a/gdk/win32/gdkevents-win32.c b/gdk/win32/gdkevents-win32.c
index 1fe362d08e..7d365fabc9 100644
--- a/gdk/win32/gdkevents-win32.c
+++ b/gdk/win32/gdkevents-win32.c
@@ -1365,7 +1365,9 @@ modal_timer_proc (HWND     hwnd,
 		  DWORD    time)
 {
   int arbitrary_limit = 10;
-  GdkWin32Display *display = GDK_WIN32_DISPLAY (gdk_surface_get_display (GDK_SURFACE (id)));
+
+  /* todo: if we support multiple GdkDisplay's on Windows? */
+  GdkWin32Display *display = GDK_WIN32_DISPLAY (gdk_display_get_default ());
 
   while (display->display_surface_record->modal_operation_in_progress != GDK_WIN32_MODAL_OP_NONE &&
 	 g_main_context_pending (NULL) &&