diff --git a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coremidi_io.cc b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coremidi_io.cc
index caf80105b0..9d462aa10f 100644
--- a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coremidi_io.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coremidi_io.cc
@@ -268,13 +268,21 @@ CoreMidiIo::recv_event (uint32_t port, double cycle_time_us, uint64_t &time, uin
 		if ((*it)->timeStamp < end) {
 			if ((*it)->timeStamp < start) {
 				uint64_t dt = AudioConvertHostTimeToNanos(start - (*it)->timeStamp);
-				if (dt > 1e7) { // 10ms,
+				if (dt > 1e7 && (*it)->timeStamp != 0) { // 10ms slack and a timestamp is given
 #ifndef NDEBUG
 					printf("Dropped Stale Midi Event. dt:%.2fms\n", dt * 1e-6);
 #endif
 					it = _input_queue[port].erase(it);
 					continue;
 				} else {
+					/* events without a valid timestamp, or events that arrived
+					 * less than 10ms in the past are allowed and
+					 * queued at the beginning of the cycle:
+					 * time (relative to cycle start) = 0
+					 *
+					 * The latter use needed for the "Avid Artist" Control Surface
+					 * the OSX driver sends no timestamps.
+					 */
 #if 0
 					printf("Stale Midi Event. dt:%.2fms\n", dt * 1e-6);
 #endif