diff --git a/redo/area_windows.c b/redo/area_windows.c
index f309049..bb988b3 100644
--- a/redo/area_windows.c
+++ b/redo/area_windows.c
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 #include "winapi_windows.h"
 #include "_cgo_export.h"
 
-#define areaWindowClass L"gouiarea"
-
 static void getScrollPos(HWND hwnd, int *xpos, int *ypos)
 {
 	SCROLLINFO si;
@@ -412,6 +410,8 @@ static LRESULT CALLBACK areaWndProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM
 	case msgAreaRepaintAll:
 		repaintArea(hwnd);
 		return 0;
+	case msgAreaDefocuses:
+		return (LRESULT) areaDefocuses(data);
 	default:
 		return DefWindowProcW(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
 	}
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ HWND newArea(void *data)
 	hwnd = CreateWindowExW(
 		0,
 		areaWindowClass, L"",
-		WS_HSCROLL | WS_VSCROLL | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE,
+		WS_HSCROLL | WS_VSCROLL | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP,
 		CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT,
 		100, 100,
 		msgwin, NULL, hInstance, data);
diff --git a/redo/area_windows.go b/redo/area_windows.go
index 05f0274..de03d10 100644
--- a/redo/area_windows.go
+++ b/redo/area_windows.go
@@ -280,6 +280,15 @@ func areaResetClickCounter(data unsafe.Pointer) {
 	a.clickCounter.reset()
 }
 
+//export areaDefocuses
+func areaDefocuses(data unsafe.Pointer) C.BOOL {
+	a := (*area)(data)
+	if a.handler.Defocuses() {
+		return C.TRUE
+	}
+	return C.FALSE
+}
+
 func (a *area) hwnd() C.HWND {
 	return a._hwnd
 }
diff --git a/redo/uitask_windows.c b/redo/uitask_windows.c
index 5d5f503..5a64096 100644
--- a/redo/uitask_windows.c
+++ b/redo/uitask_windows.c
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@
 #include "winapi_windows.h"
 #include "_cgo_export.h"
 
+/* note that this includes the terminating '\0' */
+#define NAREACLASS (sizeof areaWindowClass / sizeof areaWindowClass[0])
+
 void uimsgloop(void)
 {
 	MSG msg;
 	int res;
 	HWND active;
+	WCHAR classchk[NAREACLASS];
+	BOOL dodlgmessage;
 
 	for (;;) {
 		SetLastError(0);
@@ -17,9 +22,24 @@ void uimsgloop(void)
 		if (res == 0)		/* WM_QUIT */
 			break;
 		active = GetActiveWindow();
-		// TODO this interferes with Area
-		if (active != NULL && IsDialogMessageW(active, &msg) != 0)
-			continue;
+		if (active != NULL) {
+			HWND focus;
+
+			dodlgmessage = TRUE;
+			focus = GetFocus();
+			if (focus != NULL) {
+				// theoretically we could use the class atom to avoid a wcscmp()
+				// however, raymond chen advises against this - TODO_get_URL
+				// while I have no idea what could deregister *my* window class from under *me*, better safe than sorry
+				// we could also theoretically just send msgAreaDefocuses directly, but what DefWindowProc() does to a WM_APP message is undocumented
+				if (GetClassNameW(focus, classchk, NAREACLASS) == 0)
+					xpanic("error getting name of focused window class for Area check", GetLastError());
+				if (wcscmp(classchk, areaWindowClass) == 0)
+					dodlgmessage = (BOOL) SendMessageW(focus, msgAreaDefocuses, 0, 0);
+			}
+			if (dodlgmessage && IsDialogMessageW(active, &msg) != 0)
+				continue;
+		}
 		TranslateMessage(&msg);
 		DispatchMessageW(&msg);
 	}
diff --git a/redo/winapi_windows.h b/redo/winapi_windows.h
index ca27367..f9e9a9b 100644
--- a/redo/winapi_windows.h
+++ b/redo/winapi_windows.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ enum {
 	msgNOTIFY,					/* WM_NOTIFY proxy */
 	msgAreaSizeChanged,
 	msgAreaRepaintAll,
+	msgAreaDefocuses,
 };
 
 /* uitask_windows.c */
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ extern HWND newContainer(void *);
 extern void calculateBaseUnits(HWND, int *, int *, LONG *);
 
 /* area_window.c */
+#define areaWindowClass L"gouiarea"
 extern void repaintArea(HWND);
 extern DWORD makeAreaWindowClass(char **);
 extern HWND newArea(void *);
diff --git a/redo/zz_test.go b/redo/zz_test.go
index 46f00e2..edc0e1e 100644
--- a/redo/zz_test.go
+++ b/redo/zz_test.go
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ func (tw *testwin) make(done chan struct{}) {
 	tw.t.Append("Password Field", tw.e2)
 	tw.w.Show()
 	if *smallWindow {
+		// TODO windows - tab order wrong in wine?
 		tw.wsmall = NewWindow("Small", 80, 80,
 			NewVerticalStack(
 				NewButton("Small"),