diff --git a/src/event-loop.c b/src/event-loop.c
index d3236016..10466001 100644
--- a/src/event-loop.c
+++ b/src/event-loop.c
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ wl_event_source_timer_dispatch(struct wl_event_source *source,
 	int len;
 
 	len = read(source->fd, &expires, sizeof expires);
-	if (len != sizeof expires)
+	if (!(len == -1 && errno == EAGAIN) && len != sizeof expires)
 		/* Is there anything we can do here?  Will this ever happen? */
 		fprintf(stderr, "timerfd read error: %m\n");
 
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ wl_event_loop_add_timer(struct wl_event_loop *loop,
 		return NULL;
 
 	source->base.interface = &timer_source_interface;
-	source->base.fd = timerfd_create(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, TFD_CLOEXEC);
+	source->base.fd = timerfd_create(CLOCK_MONOTONIC,
+									 TFD_CLOEXEC | TFD_NONBLOCK);
 	source->func = func;
 
 	return add_source(loop, &source->base, WL_EVENT_READABLE, data);