diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
index d5dc846ee4..86c431cc60 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.cc
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ CairoWidget::CairoWidget ()
 	, _height (1)
 	, _active_state (CairoWidget::ActiveState (0))
 	, _visual_state (CairoWidget::VisualState (0))
-	, _pixmap (0)
 	, _dirty (true)
 {
 
@@ -33,54 +32,16 @@ CairoWidget::CairoWidget ()
 
 CairoWidget::~CairoWidget ()
 {
-	if (_pixmap) {
-		g_object_unref (_pixmap);
-	}
 }
 
 bool
-CairoWidget::on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose *event)
+CairoWidget::on_expose_event (GdkEventExpose *ev)
 {
-	Gdk::Rectangle const exposure (
-		event->area.x, event->area.y, event->area.width, event->area.height
-		);
-
-	Gdk::Rectangle r = exposure;
-	Gdk::Rectangle content (0, 0, _width, _height);
-	bool intersects;
-	r.intersect (content, intersects);
-
-	if (intersects) {
-
-		GdkDrawable* drawable = get_window()->gobj ();
-
-		if (_dirty) {
-
-			if (_pixmap) {
-				g_object_unref (_pixmap);
-			}
-
-			_pixmap = gdk_pixmap_new (drawable, _width, _height, -1);
-
-			cairo_t* cr = gdk_cairo_create (_pixmap);
-			render (cr);
-			cairo_destroy (cr);
-
-			_dirty = false;
-		}
-
-		gdk_draw_drawable (
-			drawable,
-			get_style()->get_fg_gc (Gtk::STATE_NORMAL)->gobj(),
-			_pixmap,
- 			r.get_x(),
- 			r.get_y(),
- 			r.get_x(),
- 			r.get_y(),
- 			r.get_width(),
- 			r.get_height()
-			);
-	}
+	cairo_t* cr = gdk_cairo_create (get_window ()->gobj());
+	cairo_rectangle (cr, ev->area.x, ev->area.y, ev->area.width, ev->area.height);
+	cairo_clip (cr);
+	render (cr);
+	cairo_destroy (cr);
 
 	return true;
 }
@@ -93,8 +54,6 @@ void
 CairoWidget::set_dirty ()
 {
 	ENSURE_GUI_THREAD (*this, &CairoWidget::set_dirty)
-
-	_dirty = true;
 	queue_draw ();
 }
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
index ff0533643b..65de9b5e31 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/cairo_widget.h
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <gtkmm/eventbox.h>
 
-/** A parent class for widgets that are made up of a pixmap rendered using Cairo.
- *  The pixmap is painted to screen on GTK expose events, but the rendering
- *  is only done after set_dirty() has been called.
+/** A parent class for widgets that are rendered using Cairo.
  */
 
 class CairoWidget : public Gtk::EventBox