diff --git a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsKeyState.cpp b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsKeyState.cpp
index c723d19e..8d275177 100644
--- a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsKeyState.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsKeyState.cpp
@@ -1357,9 +1357,20 @@ MSWindowsKeyState::getIDForKey(barrier::KeyMap::KeyItem& item,
 	KeyID id = static_cast<KeyID>(unicode[0]);
 
 	switch (n) {
-	case -1:
-		return barrier::KeyMap::getDeadKey(id);
+	case -1: {
+        // dead key. add an space to the keyboard so we exit
+        // the dead key mode and future calls to this function
+        // with different modifiers are not affected.
 
+        BYTE emptyState[256] = { };
+        n = m_ToUnicodeEx(VK_SPACE, 0, emptyState, unicode,
+                sizeof(unicode) / sizeof(unicode[0]), 0, hkl);
+
+        // as an alternative, we could use the returned
+        // buffer in unicode to look at the dead key character
+        // and not rely on getDeadKey to provide the mapping.
+		return barrier::KeyMap::getDeadKey(id);
+    }
 	default:
 	case 0:
 		// unmapped