diff --git a/kitty/mouse.c b/kitty/mouse.c
index b6eda9d9f..9f40b0bfb 100644
--- a/kitty/mouse.c
+++ b/kitty/mouse.c
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ enter_event(int modifiers) {
 #ifdef __APPLE__
     // On cocoa there is no way to configure the window manager to
     // focus windows on mouse enter, so we do it ourselves
-    if (OPT(focus_follows_mouse) && !global_state.callback_os_window->is_focused) {
+    if (OPT(focus_follows_mouse).on_cross && !global_state.callback_os_window->is_focused) {
         id_type wid = global_state.callback_os_window->id;
         focus_os_window(global_state.callback_os_window, false, NULL);
         if (!global_state.callback_os_window) {