diff --git a/hpcu/main.go b/hpcu/main.go
index 3aebb62..3508f63 100644
--- a/hpcu/main.go
+++ b/hpcu/main.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func getProperty(window xproto.Window, property xproto.Atom) (
 	// chunking the requests. This has a cost of losing atomicity, although
 	// it shouldn't pose a problem except for timeout-caused INCR races.
 	var result xproto.GetPropertyReply
-	for result.Length == 0 || result.BytesAfter > 0 {
+	for (result.Sequence == 0 && result.Length == 0) || result.BytesAfter > 0 {
 		reply, err := xproto.GetProperty(X, false, /* delete */
 			window, property, xproto.GetPropertyTypeAny,
 			uint32(len(result.Value))/4,