diff -r c596c060aedb dmenu.c
--- a/dmenu.c	Sun Jan 08 13:13:00 2012 +0100
+++ b/dmenu.c	Wed Jan 11 11:53:07 2012 +0100
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <strings.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
 #include <X11/Xatom.h>
@@ -466,20 +467,59 @@
 void
 readstdin(void) {
 	char buf[sizeof text], *p, *maxstr = NULL;
-	size_t i, max = 0, size = 0;
+	size_t i = 0, max = 0, size = 0;
 
-	/* read each line from stdin and add it to the item list */
-	for(i = 0; fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin); i++) {
-		if(i+1 >= size / sizeof *items)
-			if(!(items = realloc(items, (size += BUFSIZ))))
-				eprintf("cannot realloc %u bytes:", size);
-		if((p = strchr(buf, '\n')))
-			*p = '\0';
-		if(!(items[i].text = strdup(buf)))
-			eprintf("cannot strdup %u bytes:", strlen(buf)+1);
-		if(strlen(items[i].text) > max)
+	fd_set set;
+	struct timeval timeout;
+	int ret, xfd;
+	XEvent ev;
+	KeySym ksym = NoSymbol;
+
+	xfd = ConnectionNumber(dc->dpy);
+
+	while (!feof(stdin)) {
+		timeout.tv_sec = 0;
+		timeout.tv_usec = 0;
+
+		FD_ZERO(&set);
+		FD_SET(STDIN_FILENO, &set);
+		FD_SET(xfd, &set);
+
+		if ((ret = select(xfd + 1, &set, NULL, NULL, &timeout)) < 0) {
+			if (errno == EINTR)
+				continue;
+			eprintf("select(): %s", strerror(errno));
+		}
+
+		/* exit dmenu on XK_Escape or Ctrl-C */
+		if (FD_ISSET(xfd, &set)) {
+			while (XPending(dc->dpy)) {
+				XNextEvent(dc->dpy, &ev);
+
+				if (ev.type != KeyPress)
+					continue;
+
+				ksym = XLookupKeysym(&ev.xkey, 0);
+				if (ksym == XK_Escape || (ev.xkey.state & ControlMask && ksym == XK_c))
+					exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* read a line from stdin and add it to the item list */
+		else if (FD_ISSET(STDIN_FILENO, &set) && fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin)) {
+			if(i+1 >= size / sizeof *items)
+				if(!(items = realloc(items, (size += BUFSIZ))))
+					eprintf("cannot realloc %u bytes:", size);
+			if((p = strchr(buf, '\n')))
+				*p = '\0';
+			if(!(items[i].text = strdup(buf)))
+				eprintf("cannot strdup %u bytes:", strlen(buf)+1);
+			if(strlen(items[i].text) > max)
 			max = strlen(maxstr = items[i].text);
+			i++;
+		}
 	}
+
 	if(items)
 		items[i].text = NULL;
 	inputw = maxstr ? textw(dc, maxstr) : 0;