diff --git a/lisp/term/xterm.el b/lisp/term/xterm.el
index c4b0a8fb6e..30919988e9 100644
--- a/lisp/term/xterm.el
+++ b/lisp/term/xterm.el
@@ -804,6 +804,7 @@ xterm--query
       ;; Pending input can be mistakenly returned by the calls to
       ;; read-event below: discard it.
       (discard-input)
+      (while (read-event nil nil 0.01))
       (send-string-to-terminal query)
       (while handlers
         (let ((handler (pop handlers))