diff --git a/screen-write.c b/screen-write.c
index d25462df..324ad7d2 100644
--- a/screen-write.c
+++ b/screen-write.c
@@ -1828,8 +1828,16 @@ screen_write_collect_flush(struct screen_write_ctx *ctx, int scroll_only,
 	u_int				 y, cx, cy, last, items = 0;
 	struct tty_ctx			 ttyctx;
 
-	if (s->mode & MODE_SYNC)
+	if (s->mode & MODE_SYNC) {
+		for (y = 0; y < screen_size_y(s); y++) {
+			cl = &ctx->s->write_list[y];
+			TAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(ci, &cl->items, entry, tmp) {
+				TAILQ_REMOVE(&cl->items, ci, entry);
+				screen_write_free_citem(ci);
+			}
+		}
 		return;
+	}
 
 	if (ctx->scrolled != 0) {
 		log_debug("%s: scrolled %u (region %u-%u)", __func__,