diff --git a/hw/display/qxl-render.c b/hw/display/qxl-render.c
index e812ddd..a542087 100644
--- a/hw/display/qxl-render.c
+++ b/hw/display/qxl-render.c
@@ -283,12 +283,14 @@
         qxl->ssd.mouse_x = cmd->u.set.position.x;
         qxl->ssd.mouse_y = cmd->u.set.position.y;
         qemu_mutex_unlock(&qxl->ssd.lock);
+        qemu_bh_schedule(qxl->ssd.cursor_bh);
         break;
     case QXL_CURSOR_MOVE:
         qemu_mutex_lock(&qxl->ssd.lock);
         qxl->ssd.mouse_x = cmd->u.position.x;
         qxl->ssd.mouse_y = cmd->u.position.y;
         qemu_mutex_unlock(&qxl->ssd.lock);
+        qemu_bh_schedule(qxl->ssd.cursor_bh);
         break;
     }
     return 0;
diff --git a/hw/display/qxl.c b/hw/display/qxl.c
index b540dd6..61df477 100644
--- a/hw/display/qxl.c
+++ b/hw/display/qxl.c
@@ -1092,6 +1092,7 @@
     spice_qxl_driver_unload(&d->ssd.qxl);
 #endif
     graphic_console_set_hwops(d->ssd.dcl.con, d->vga.hw_ops, &d->vga);
+    update_displaychangelistener(&d->ssd.dcl, GUI_REFRESH_INTERVAL_DEFAULT);
     qemu_spice_create_host_primary(&d->ssd);
     d->mode = QXL_MODE_VGA;
     vga_dirty_log_start(&d->vga);
@@ -1105,6 +1106,7 @@
     }
     trace_qxl_exit_vga_mode(d->id);
     graphic_console_set_hwops(d->ssd.dcl.con, &qxl_ops, d);
+    update_displaychangelistener(&d->ssd.dcl, GUI_REFRESH_INTERVAL_IDLE);
     vga_dirty_log_stop(&d->vga);
     qxl_destroy_primary(d, QXL_SYNC);
 }
@@ -1153,6 +1155,7 @@
         qxl_enter_vga_mode(d);
     } else {
         d->mode = QXL_MODE_UNDEFINED;
+        update_displaychangelistener(&d->ssd.dcl, GUI_REFRESH_INTERVAL_IDLE);
     }
 }
 
@@ -1861,10 +1864,6 @@
 
     if (qxl->mode == QXL_MODE_VGA) {
         qemu_spice_display_refresh(&qxl->ssd);
-    } else {
-        qemu_mutex_lock(&qxl->ssd.lock);
-        qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(&qxl->ssd);
-        qemu_mutex_unlock(&qxl->ssd.lock);
     }
 }
 
@@ -2025,6 +2024,7 @@
     qxl_reset_state(qxl);
 
     qxl->update_area_bh = qemu_bh_new(qxl_render_update_area_bh, qxl);
+    qxl->ssd.cursor_bh = qemu_bh_new(qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_bh, &qxl->ssd);
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/ui/spice-display.h b/include/ui/spice-display.h
index 4252ab8..53883a1 100644
--- a/include/ui/spice-display.h
+++ b/include/ui/spice-display.h
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@
     /* cursor (with qxl): qxl local renderer -> displaychangelistener */
     QEMUCursor *cursor;
     int mouse_x, mouse_y;
+    QEMUBH *cursor_bh;
 };
 
 struct SimpleSpiceUpdate {
@@ -134,7 +135,7 @@
 void qemu_spice_display_switch(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd,
                                DisplaySurface *surface);
 void qemu_spice_display_refresh(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd);
-void qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd);
+void qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_bh(void *opaque);
 
 void qemu_spice_add_memslot(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd, QXLDevMemSlot *memslot,
                             qxl_async_io async);
diff --git a/spice-qemu-char.c b/spice-qemu-char.c
index 8106e06..7e0d300 100644
--- a/spice-qemu-char.c
+++ b/spice-qemu-char.c
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 #include "ui/qemu-spice.h"
 #include "sysemu/char.h"
 #include <spice.h>
-#include <spice-experimental.h>
 #include <spice/protocol.h>
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
diff --git a/ui/spice-core.c b/ui/spice-core.c
index 6467fa4..fe705c1 100644
--- a/ui/spice-core.c
+++ b/ui/spice-core.c
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
  */
 
 #include <spice.h>
-#include <spice-experimental.h>
 
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
@@ -386,10 +385,7 @@
         struct sockaddr *paddr;
         socklen_t plen;
 
-        if (!(item->info->flags & SPICE_CHANNEL_EVENT_FLAG_ADDR_EXT)) {
-            error_report("invalid channel event");
-            return NULL;
-        }
+        assert(item->info->flags & SPICE_CHANNEL_EVENT_FLAG_ADDR_EXT);
 
         chan = g_malloc0(sizeof(*chan));
         chan->value = g_malloc0(sizeof(*chan->value));
@@ -661,10 +657,6 @@
     }
     port = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "port", 0);
     tls_port = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "tls-port", 0);
-    if (!port && !tls_port) {
-        error_report("neither port nor tls-port specified for spice");
-        exit(1);
-    }
     if (port < 0 || port > 65535) {
         error_report("spice port is out of range");
         exit(1);
diff --git a/ui/spice-display.c b/ui/spice-display.c
index def7b52..d2e3793 100644
--- a/ui/spice-display.c
+++ b/ui/spice-display.c
@@ -207,12 +207,6 @@
         return;
     };
 
-    if (ssd->surface == NULL) {
-        ssd->surface = pixman_image_ref(ssd->ds->image);
-        ssd->mirror  = qemu_pixman_mirror_create(ssd->ds->format,
-                                                 ssd->ds->image);
-    }
-
     for (blk = 0; blk < blocks; blk++) {
         dirty_top[blk] = -1;
     }
@@ -409,7 +403,29 @@
     SimpleSpiceUpdate *update;
     bool need_destroy;
 
-    dprint(1, "%s/%d:\n", __func__, ssd->qxl.id);
+    if (surface && ssd->surface &&
+        surface_width(surface) == pixman_image_get_width(ssd->surface) &&
+        surface_height(surface) == pixman_image_get_height(ssd->surface)) {
+        /* no-resize fast path: just swap backing store */
+        dprint(1, "%s/%d: fast (%dx%d)\n", __func__, ssd->qxl.id,
+               surface_width(surface), surface_height(surface));
+        qemu_mutex_lock(&ssd->lock);
+        ssd->ds = surface;
+        pixman_image_unref(ssd->surface);
+        ssd->surface = pixman_image_ref(ssd->ds->image);
+        qemu_mutex_unlock(&ssd->lock);
+        qemu_spice_display_update(ssd, 0, 0,
+                                  surface_width(surface),
+                                  surface_height(surface));
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* full mode switch */
+    dprint(1, "%s/%d: full (%dx%d -> %dx%d)\n", __func__, ssd->qxl.id,
+           ssd->surface ? pixman_image_get_width(ssd->surface)  : 0,
+           ssd->surface ? pixman_image_get_height(ssd->surface) : 0,
+           surface ? surface_width(surface)  : 0,
+           surface ? surface_height(surface) : 0);
 
     memset(&ssd->dirty, 0, sizeof(ssd->dirty));
     if (ssd->surface) {
@@ -422,6 +438,9 @@
     qemu_mutex_lock(&ssd->lock);
     need_destroy = (ssd->ds != NULL);
     ssd->ds = surface;
+    ssd->surface = pixman_image_ref(ssd->ds->image);
+    ssd->mirror  = qemu_pixman_mirror_create(ssd->ds->format,
+                                             ssd->ds->image);
     while ((update = QTAILQ_FIRST(&ssd->updates)) != NULL) {
         QTAILQ_REMOVE(&ssd->updates, update, next);
         qemu_spice_destroy_update(ssd, update);
@@ -438,7 +457,7 @@
     ssd->notify++;
 }
 
-void qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd)
+static void qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd)
 {
     if (ssd->cursor) {
         assert(ssd->dcl.con);
@@ -454,6 +473,15 @@
     }
 }
 
+void qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_bh(void *opaque)
+{
+    SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd = opaque;
+
+    qemu_mutex_lock(&ssd->lock);
+    qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(ssd);
+    qemu_mutex_unlock(&ssd->lock);
+}
+
 void qemu_spice_display_refresh(SimpleSpiceDisplay *ssd)
 {
     dprint(3, "%s/%d:\n", __func__, ssd->qxl.id);
@@ -464,7 +492,6 @@
         qemu_spice_create_update(ssd);
         ssd->notify++;
     }
-    qemu_spice_cursor_refresh_unlocked(ssd);
     qemu_mutex_unlock(&ssd->lock);
 
     if (ssd->notify) {