diff --git a/kitty/keys.c b/kitty/keys.c
index 4cda5e162..ec9fea5e8 100644
--- a/kitty/keys.c
+++ b/kitty/keys.c
@@ -152,6 +152,12 @@ on_key_input(GLFWkeyevent *ev) {
             debug("invalid state, ignoring\n");
             return;
     }
+    if (!native_key && !key && text[0]) {
+        // key == 0 is sent by the glfw coca backend when text is inserted by the IME outside the key handlers
+        schedule_write_to_child(w->id, 1, text, strlen(text));
+        debug("sent key as text to child\n");
+        return;
+    }
     PyObject *ke = NULL;
 #define create_key_event() { ke = convert_glfw_key_event_to_python(ev); if (!ke) { PyErr_Print(); return; } }
     if (global_state.in_sequence_mode) {
@@ -187,8 +193,7 @@ on_key_input(GLFWkeyevent *ev) {
             }
         }
         if (!w) return;
-    } 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
+    } else if (w->last_special_key_pressed == key) {
         w->last_special_key_pressed = 0;
         debug("ignoring release event for previous press that was handled as shortcut\n");
         return;