diff --git a/awesome.c b/awesome.c
index 26bd86c3..16d94f77 100644
--- a/awesome.c
+++ b/awesome.c
@@ -510,13 +510,12 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
                 | XCB_EVENT_MASK_STRUCTURE_NOTIFY
                 | XCB_EVENT_MASK_PROPERTY_CHANGE
                 | XCB_EVENT_MASK_BUTTON_PRESS
-                | XCB_EVENT_MASK_BUTTON_RELEASE,
-            xcursor_new(globalconf.connection, XC_left_ptr)
+                | XCB_EVENT_MASK_BUTTON_RELEASE
         };
 
         xcb_change_window_attributes(globalconf.connection,
                                      xutil_screen_get(globalconf.connection, screen_nbr)->root,
-                                     XCB_CW_EVENT_MASK | XCB_CW_CURSOR,
+                                     XCB_CW_EVENT_MASK,
                                      change_win_vals);
         ewmh_init(screen_nbr);
         systray_init(screen_nbr);
diff --git a/lib/awful/mouse.lua.in b/lib/awful/mouse.lua.in
index a5b5931d..17e207aa 100644
--- a/lib/awful/mouse.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/mouse.lua.in
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ local math = math
 local ipairs = ipairs
 local capi =
 {
+    root = root,
     mouse = mouse,
     screen = screen,
     client = client,
@@ -574,4 +575,7 @@ function client.resize(c, corner)
     end
 end
 
+-- Set the cursor at startup
+capi.root.cursor("left_ptr")
+
 -- vim: filetype=lua:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:encoding=utf-8:textwidth=80