diff --git a/src/html5/index.html b/src/html5/index.html
index bbed6c7a6c..a5be637f96 100644
--- a/src/html5/index.html
+++ b/src/html5/index.html
@@ -719,7 +719,9 @@ <h2>Xpra Bug Report</h2>
 					if (navigator.clipboard && navigator.clipboard.readText) {
 						navigator.clipboard.readText().then(function(text) {
 							cdebug("clipboard", "paste event, text=", text);
-							client.send_clipboard_token(unescape(encodeURIComponent(text)));
+							var paste_data = unescape(encodeURIComponent(text));
+							client.clipboard_buffer = paste_data;
+							client.send_clipboard_token(paste_data);
 						}, function(err) {
 							cdebug("clipboard", "paste event failed:", err);
 						});
@@ -734,10 +736,10 @@ <h2>Xpra Bug Report</h2>
 						if (Utilities.isIE()) {
 							datatype = "Text";
 						}
-						paste_data = clipboardData.getData(datatype);
+						paste_data = unescape(encodeURIComponent(clipboardData.getData(datatype)));
 						cdebug("clipboard", "paste event, data=", paste_data);
 						client.clipboard_buffer = paste_data;
-						client.send_clipboard_token(unescape(encodeURIComponent(paste_data)));
+						client.send_clipboard_token(paste_data);
 					}
 					return false;
 				});
@@ -763,12 +765,11 @@ <h2>Xpra Bug Report</h2>
 						var clipboard_buffer = client.get_clipboard_buffer();
 						var clipboard_datatype = (client.get_clipboard_datatype() || "").toLowerCase();
 						var is_text = clipboard_datatype.indexOf("text")>=0 || clipboard_datatype.indexOf("string")>=0;
-						if (is_text) {
-							pasteboard.text(clipboard_buffer);
-						}
-						else {
-							pasteboard.text("");
+						if (!is_text) {
+							//maybe just abort here instead?
+							clipboard_buffer = "";
 						}
+						pasteboard.text(clipboard_buffer);
 						pasteboard.select();
 						cdebug("clipboard", "click event, with pending clipboard datatype=", clipboard_datatype, ", buffer=", clipboard_buffer);
 						//for IE:
@@ -794,6 +795,8 @@ <h2>Xpra Bug Report</h2>
 							//probably no point in trying again?
 						}
 						if (success) {
+							//clipboard_buffer may have been cleared if not set to text:
+							client.clipboard_buffer = clipboard_buffer;
 							client.clipboard_pending = false;
 						}
 					}
diff --git a/src/html5/js/Client.js b/src/html5/js/Client.js
index e9371f7c9d..1afb18e6ac 100644
--- a/src/html5/js/Client.js
+++ b/src/html5/js/Client.js
@@ -1305,6 +1305,7 @@ XpraClient.prototype.do_window_mouse_click = function(e, window, pressed) {
 	if (this.server_readonly || this.mouse_grabbed || !this.connected) {
 		return;
 	}
+	this._poll_clipboard(e);
 	var mouse = this.getMouse(e, window),
 		x = Math.round(mouse.x),
 		y = Math.round(mouse.y);
@@ -1405,6 +1406,49 @@ XpraClient.prototype.do_window_mouse_scroll = function(e, window) {
 }
 
 
+XpraClient.prototype._poll_clipboard = function(e) {
+	//see if the clipboard contents have changed:
+	this.debug("clipboard", "poll clipboard, navigator.clipboard=", navigator.clipboard);
+	if (navigator.clipboard && navigator.clipboard.readText) {
+		var client = this;
+		//warning: this can take a while,
+		//so we may send the click before the clipboard contents...
+		navigator.clipboard.readText().then(function(text) {
+			client.debug("clipboard", "paste event, text=", text);
+			var clipboard_buffer = unescape(encodeURIComponent(text));
+			if (clipboard_buffer!=client.clipboard_buffer) {
+				client.debug("clipboard", "clipboard contents have changed");
+				client.clipboard_buffer = clipboard_buffer;
+				client.send_clipboard_token();
+			}
+		}, function(err) {
+			client.debug("clipboard", "paste event failed:", err);
+		});
+	}
+	else {
+		var datatype = "text/plain";
+		var clipboardData = (e.originalEvent || e).clipboardData;
+		//IE: must use window.clipboardData because the event clipboardData is null!
+		if (!clipboardData) {
+			clipboardData = window.clipboardData;
+			if (!clipboardData) {
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+		if (Utilities.isIE()) {
+			datatype = "Text";
+		}
+		clipboard_buffer = unescape(encodeURIComponent(clipboardData.getData(datatype)));
+		this.debug("clipboard", "paste event, data=", clipboard_buffer);
+		if (clipboard_buffer!=client.clipboard_buffer) {
+			this.debug("clipboard", "clipboard contents have changed");
+			this.clipboard_buffer = clipboard_buffer;
+			this.send_clipboard_token();
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Focus
  */
@@ -3247,7 +3291,7 @@ XpraClient.prototype.send_clipboard_string = function(request_id, selection, cli
 	} else {
 		packet = ["clipboard-contents", request_id, selection, datatype || "UTF8_STRING", 8, "bytes", clipboard_buffer];
 	}
-	this.log("send_clipboard_string: packet=", packet);
+	this.debug("clipboard", "send_clipboard_string: packet=", packet);
 	this.send(packet);
 }