diff --git a/render.c b/render.c
index 755304ea..d97da212 100644
--- a/render.c
+++ b/render.c
@@ -275,13 +275,14 @@ draw_strikeout(const struct terminal *term, pixman_image_t *pix,
 
 static void
 draw_cursor(const struct terminal *term, const struct cell *cell,
-            bool is_selected, const struct font *font,
-            pixman_image_t *pix, pixman_color_t *fg, const pixman_color_t *bg,
-            int x, int y, int cols)
+            const struct font *font, pixman_image_t *pix, pixman_color_t *fg,
+            const pixman_color_t *bg, int x, int y, int cols)
 {
     pixman_color_t cursor_color;
     pixman_color_t text_color;
 
+    bool is_selected = cell->attrs.selected;
+
     if (term->cursor_color.cursor >> 31) {
         assert(term->cursor_color.text);
 
@@ -331,51 +332,6 @@ draw_cursor(const struct terminal *term, const struct cell *cell,
     }
 }
 
-static bool
-coord_is_selected(const struct terminal *term, int col, int row)
-{
-    if (term->selection.start.col == -1 || term->selection.end.col == -1)
-        return false;
-
-    const struct coord *start = &term->selection.start;
-    const struct coord *end = &term->selection.end;
-
-    if (start->row > end->row || (start->row == end->row && start->col > end->col)) {
-        const struct coord *tmp = start;
-        start = end;
-        end = tmp;
-    }
-
-    assert(start->row <= end->row);
-
-    row += term->grid->view;
-
-    switch (term->selection.kind) {
-    case SELECTION_NORMAL:
-        if (start->row == end->row) {
-            return row == start->row && col >= start->col && col <= end->col;
-        } else {
-            if (row == start->row)
-                return col >= start->col;
-            else if (row == end->row)
-                return col <= end->col;
-            else
-                return row >= start->row && row <= end->row;
-        }
-
-    case SELECTION_BLOCK:
-        if (start->col <= end->col)
-            return row >= start->row && row <= end->row &&
-                col >= start->col && col <= end->col;
-        else
-            return row >= start->row && row <= end->row &&
-                col <= start->col && col >= end->col;
-    }
-
-    assert(false);
-    return false;
-}
-
 static int
 render_cell(struct terminal *term, pixman_image_t *pix,
             struct cell *cell, int col, int row, bool has_cursor)
@@ -390,7 +346,8 @@ render_cell(struct terminal *term, pixman_image_t *pix,
     int x = term->x_margin + col * width;
     int y = term->y_margin + row * height;
 
-    bool is_selected = coord_is_selected(term, col, row);
+    //bool is_selected = coord_is_selected(term, col, row);
+    bool is_selected = cell->attrs.selected;
 
     uint32_t _fg = 0;
     uint32_t _bg = 0;
@@ -430,10 +387,8 @@ render_cell(struct terminal *term, pixman_image_t *pix,
         PIXMAN_OP_SRC, pix, &bg, 1,
         &(pixman_rectangle16_t){x, y, cell_cols * width, height});
 
-    if (has_cursor) {
-        draw_cursor(
-            term, cell, is_selected, font, pix, &fg, &bg, x, y, cell_cols);
-    }
+    if (has_cursor)
+        draw_cursor(term, cell, font, pix, &fg, &bg, x, y, cell_cols);
 
     if (cell->attrs.blink)
         term_arm_blink_timer(term);
diff --git a/selection.c b/selection.c
index 6efe682c..1510210e 100644
--- a/selection.c
+++ b/selection.c
@@ -45,6 +45,92 @@ selection_on_row_in_view(const struct terminal *term, int row_no)
     return row_no >= start->row && row_no <= end->row;
 }
 
+static void
+foreach_selected_normal(
+    struct terminal *term,
+    void (*cb)(struct terminal *term, struct row *row, struct cell *cell, void *data),
+    void *data)
+{
+    const struct coord *start = &term->selection.start;
+    const struct coord *end = &term->selection.end;
+
+    int start_row, end_row;
+    int start_col, end_col;
+
+    if (start->row < end->row) {
+        start_row = start->row;
+        end_row = end->row;
+        start_col = start->col;
+        end_col = end->col;
+    } else if (start->row > end->row) {
+        start_row = end->row;
+        end_row = start->row;
+        start_col = end->col;
+        end_col = start->col;
+    } else {
+        start_row = end_row = start->row;
+        start_col = min(start->col, end->col);
+        end_col = max(start->col, end->col);
+    }
+
+    for (int r = start_row; r <= end_row; r++) {
+        struct row *row = term->grid->rows[r];
+
+        for (int c = start_col;
+             c <= (r == end_row ? end_col : term->cols - 1);
+             c++)
+        {
+            cb(term, row, &row->cells[c], data);
+        }
+
+        start_col = 0;
+    }
+}
+
+static void
+foreach_selected_block(
+    struct terminal *term,
+    void (*cb)(struct terminal *term, struct row *row, struct cell *cell, void *data),
+    void *data)
+{
+    const struct coord *start = &term->selection.start;
+    const struct coord *end = &term->selection.end;
+
+    struct coord top_left = {
+        .row = min(start->row, end->row),
+        .col = min(start->col, end->col),
+    };
+
+    struct coord bottom_right = {
+        .row = max(start->row, end->row),
+        .col = max(start->col, end->col),
+    };
+
+    for (int r = top_left.row; r <= bottom_right.row; r++) {
+        struct row *row = term->grid->rows[r];
+
+        for (int c = top_left.col; c <= bottom_right.col; c++)
+            cb(term, row, &row->cells[c], data);
+    }
+}
+
+static void
+foreach_selected(
+    struct terminal *term,
+    void (*cb)(struct terminal *term, struct row *row, struct cell *cell, void *data),
+    void *data)
+{
+    switch (term->selection.kind) {
+    case SELECTION_NORMAL:
+        return foreach_selected_normal(term, cb, data);
+
+    case SELECTION_BLOCK:
+        return foreach_selected_block(term, cb, data);
+    }
+
+    assert(false);
+}
+
 static char *
 extract_selection(const struct terminal *term)
 {
@@ -143,6 +229,30 @@ selection_start(struct terminal *term, int col, int row,
     term->selection.end = (struct coord){-1, -1};
 }
 
+static void
+unmark_selected(struct terminal *term, struct row *row, struct cell *cell,
+                void *data)
+{
+    if (!cell->attrs.selected)
+        return;
+
+    row->dirty = 1;
+    cell->attrs.selected = 0;
+    cell->attrs.clean = 0;
+}
+
+static void
+mark_selected(struct terminal *term, struct row *row, struct cell *cell,
+                void *data)
+{
+    if (cell->attrs.selected)
+        return;
+
+    row->dirty = 1;
+    cell->attrs.selected = 1;
+    cell->attrs.clean = 0;
+}
+
 void
 selection_update(struct terminal *term, int col, int row)
 {
@@ -154,24 +264,16 @@ selection_update(struct terminal *term, int col, int row)
             term->selection.end.row, term->selection.end.col,
             row, col);
 
-    int start_row = term->selection.start.row;
-    int old_end_row = term->selection.end.row;
-    int new_end_row = term->grid->view + row;
+    assert(term->selection.start.row != -1);
+    assert(term->grid->view + row != -1);
 
-    assert(start_row != -1);
-    assert(new_end_row != -1);
-
-    if (old_end_row == -1)
-        old_end_row = new_end_row;
-
-    int from = min(start_row, min(old_end_row, new_end_row));
-    int to = max(start_row, max(old_end_row, new_end_row));
+    if (term->selection.end.row != -1)
+        foreach_selected(term, &unmark_selected, NULL);
 
     term->selection.end = (struct coord){col, term->grid->view + row};
 
     assert(term->selection.start.row != -1 && term->selection.end.row != -1);
-    term_damage_rows_in_view(term, from - term->grid->view, to - term->grid->view);
-
+    foreach_selected(term, &mark_selected, NULL);
     render_refresh(term);
 }
 
@@ -212,20 +314,13 @@ selection_cancel(struct terminal *term)
             term->selection.start.row, term->selection.start.col,
             term->selection.end.row, term->selection.end.col);
 
-    int start_row = term->selection.start.row;
-    int end_row = term->selection.end.row;
+    if (term->selection.start.row != -1 && term->selection.end.row != -1) {
+        foreach_selected(term, &unmark_selected, NULL);
+        render_refresh(term);
+    }
 
     term->selection.start = (struct coord){-1, -1};
     term->selection.end = (struct coord){-1, -1};
-
-    if (start_row != -1 && end_row != -1) {
-        term_damage_rows_in_view(
-            term,
-            min(start_row, end_row) - term->grid->view,
-            max(start_row, end_row) - term->grid->view);
-
-        render_refresh(term);
-    }
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/terminal.h b/terminal.h
index e0b8d44a..4bc4d092 100644
--- a/terminal.h
+++ b/terminal.h
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ struct attributes {
     uint32_t clean:1;
     uint32_t have_fg:1;
     uint32_t have_bg:1;
-    uint32_t reserved:5;
+    uint32_t selected:1;
+    uint32_t reserved:4;
     uint32_t bg:24;
 };
 static_assert(sizeof(struct attributes) == 8, "bad size");