diff --git a/hw/xnest/Display.c b/hw/xnest/Display.c
index 0735de772..574effd98 100644
--- a/hw/xnest/Display.c
+++ b/hw/xnest/Display.c
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ is" without express or implied warranty.
 Display *xnestDisplay = NULL;
 XVisualInfo *xnestVisuals;
 int xnestNumVisuals;
-int xnestDefaultVisualIndex;
 Colormap *xnestDefaultColormaps;
 static uint16_t xnestNumDefaultColormaps;
 int *xnestDepths;
@@ -94,30 +93,6 @@ xnestOpenDisplay(int argc, char *argv[])
     if (xnestNumVisuals == 0 || xnestVisuals == NULL)
         FatalError("Unable to find any visuals.\n");
 
-    if (xnestUserDefaultClass || xnestUserDefaultDepth) {
-        xnestDefaultVisualIndex = UNDEFINED;
-        for (i = 0; i < xnestNumVisuals; i++)
-            if ((!xnestUserDefaultClass ||
-                 xnestVisuals[i].class == xnestDefaultClass)
-                &&
-                (!xnestUserDefaultDepth ||
-                 xnestVisuals[i].depth == xnestDefaultDepth)) {
-                xnestDefaultVisualIndex = i;
-                break;
-            }
-        if (xnestDefaultVisualIndex == UNDEFINED)
-            FatalError("Unable to find desired default visual.\n");
-    }
-    else {
-        vi.visualid = XVisualIDFromVisual(DefaultVisual(xnestDisplay,
-                                                        DefaultScreen
-                                                        (xnestDisplay)));
-        xnestDefaultVisualIndex = 0;
-        for (i = 0; i < xnestNumVisuals; i++)
-            if (vi.visualid == xnestVisuals[i].visualid)
-                xnestDefaultVisualIndex = i;
-    }
-
     xnestNumDefaultColormaps = xnestNumVisuals;
     xnestDefaultColormaps = xallocarray(xnestNumDefaultColormaps,
                                         sizeof(Colormap));
diff --git a/hw/xnest/Display.h b/hw/xnest/Display.h
index 4e9dbf463..b7fbad877 100644
--- a/hw/xnest/Display.h
+++ b/hw/xnest/Display.h
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ is" without express or implied warranty.
 extern Display *xnestDisplay;
 extern XVisualInfo *xnestVisuals;
 extern int xnestNumVisuals;
-extern int xnestDefaultVisualIndex;
 extern Colormap *xnestDefaultColormaps;
 extern int xnestNumDefaultClormaps;
 extern int *xnestDepths;
diff --git a/hw/xnest/Screen.c b/hw/xnest/Screen.c
index 6eb767233..a8d8a66f7 100644
--- a/hw/xnest/Screen.c
+++ b/hw/xnest/Screen.c
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ xnestOpenScreen(ScreenPtr pScreen, int argc, char *argv[])
     depths[0].vids = (VisualID *) malloc(MAXVISUALSPERDEPTH * sizeof(VisualID));
     numDepths = 1;
 
+    int found_default_visual = 0;
+
     for (i = 0; i < xnestNumVisuals; i++) {
         visuals[numVisuals].class = xnestVisuals[i].class;
         visuals[numVisuals].bitsPerRGBValue = xnestVisuals[i].bits_per_rgb;
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ xnestOpenScreen(ScreenPtr pScreen, int argc, char *argv[])
                 break;
         }
         if (j < numVisuals)
-            break;
+            continue;
 
         visuals[numVisuals].vid = FakeClientID(0);
 
@@ -231,12 +233,33 @@ xnestOpenScreen(ScreenPtr pScreen, int argc, char *argv[])
             visuals[numVisuals].vid;
         depths[depthIndex].numVids++;
 
+        if (xnestUserDefaultClass || xnestUserDefaultDepth) {
+            if ((!xnestDefaultClass || visuals[numVisuals].class == xnestDefaultClass) &&
+                (!xnestDefaultDepth || visuals[numVisuals].nplanes == xnestDefaultDepth))
+            {
+                defaultVisual = visuals[numVisuals].vid;
+                rootDepth = visuals[numVisuals].nplanes;
+                found_default_visual = 1;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            VisualID visual_id = XVisualIDFromVisual(DefaultVisual(xnestDisplay, DefaultScreen(xnestDisplay)));
+            if (visual_id == xnestVisuals[i].visualid) {
+                defaultVisual = visuals[numVisuals].vid;
+                rootDepth = visuals[numVisuals].nplanes;
+                found_default_visual = 1;
+            }
+        }
         numVisuals++;
     }
     visuals = reallocarray(visuals, numVisuals, sizeof(VisualRec));
 
-    defaultVisual = visuals[xnestDefaultVisualIndex].vid;
-    rootDepth = visuals[xnestDefaultVisualIndex].nplanes;
+    if (!found_default_visual) {
+        ErrorF("Xnest: can't find matching visual for user specified depth %d\n", xnestDefaultDepth);
+        defaultVisual = visuals[0].vid;
+        rootDepth = visuals[0].nplanes;
+    }
 
     if (xnestParentWindow != 0) {
         XGetWindowAttributes(xnestDisplay, xnestParentWindow, &gattributes);