diff --git a/sdl.c b/sdl.c
index 0601b16d3f..03d3ab887a 100644
--- a/sdl.c
+++ b/sdl.c
@@ -251,9 +251,9 @@ static int check_for_evdev(void)
     keycodes = XGetAtomName(info.info.x11.display, desc->names->keycodes);
     if (keycodes == NULL)
         fprintf(stderr, "could not lookup keycode name\n");
-    else if (strstart(keycodes, "evdev_", NULL))
+    else if (strstart(keycodes, "evdev", NULL))
         has_evdev = 1;
-    else if (!strstart(keycodes, "xfree86_", NULL))
+    else if (!strstart(keycodes, "xfree86", NULL))
         fprintf(stderr,
                 "unknown keycodes `%s', please report to qemu-devel@nongnu.org\n",
                 keycodes);