diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/aux/kbdfs.c b/sys/src/cmd/aux/kbdfs.c
index aa2c19b79..46939f925 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/aux/kbdfs.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/aux/kbdfs.c
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ ctlproc(void *)
 				s = emalloc9p(UTFmax+1);
 				s[runetochar(s, &r)] = 0;
 			} else {
-				send(cook, &r);
+				nbsend(cook, &r);
 				break;
 			}
 			/* no break */