diff --git a/objects/selection_getter.c b/objects/selection_getter.c
index f932be95..9b8f4160 100644
--- a/objects/selection_getter.c
+++ b/objects/selection_getter.c
@@ -54,8 +54,14 @@ luaA_selection_getter_new(lua_State *L)
     selection_getter_t *selection;
     xcb_atom_t name_atom, target_atom;
 
-    name = luaL_checklstring(L, 2, &name_length);
-    target = luaL_checklstring(L, 3, &target_length);
+    luaA_checktable(L, 2);
+    lua_pushliteral(L, "selection");
+    lua_gettable(L, 2);
+    lua_pushliteral(L, "target");
+    lua_gettable(L, 2);
+
+    name = luaL_checklstring(L, -2, &name_length);
+    target = luaL_checklstring(L, -1, &target_length);
 
     /* Create a selection object */
     selection = (void *) selection_getter_class.allocator(L);
diff --git a/tests/test-selection-getter.lua b/tests/test-selection-getter.lua
index a11296ba..a2ae4d71 100644
--- a/tests/test-selection-getter.lua
+++ b/tests/test-selection-getter.lua
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ runner.run_steps{
 
         -- Now query the state of the clipboard (should be empty)
         continue = false
-        local s = selection_getter("CLIPBOARD", "TARGETS")
+        local s = selection_getter{ selection = "CLIPBOARD", target = "TARGETS" }
         s:connect_signal("data", function(...) error("Got unexpected data: " .. dump_return{...}) end)
         s:connect_signal("data_end", function()
             assert(not continue)
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ runner.run_steps{
 
         -- Query whether the clipboard contains a text (UTF8_STRING)
         continue = false
-        local s = selection_getter("CLIPBOARD", "TARGETS")
+        local s = selection_getter{ selection = "CLIPBOARD", target = "TARGETS" }
         local data = nil
         s:connect_signal("data", function(_, d)
             assert(not data)
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ runner.run_steps{
 
         -- Query the text in the clipboard
         continue = false
-        local s = selection_getter("CLIPBOARD", "UTF8_STRING")
+        local s = selection_getter{ selection = "CLIPBOARD", target = "UTF8_STRING" }
         local data = nil
         s:connect_signal("data", function(_, d)
             assert(data == nil)
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ runner.run_steps{
 
         -- Query the image in the clipboard
         continue = false
-        local s = selection_getter("CLIPBOARD", "image/bmp")
+        local s = selection_getter{ selection = "CLIPBOARD", target = "image/bmp" }
         local data = {}
         s:connect_signal("data", function(_, d)
             table.insert(data, d)