diff --git a/gajim/dialogs.py b/gajim/dialogs.py
index a0d2a27d7..e89a46628 100644
--- a/gajim/dialogs.py
+++ b/gajim/dialogs.py
@@ -2776,6 +2776,7 @@ class StartChatDialog(Gtk.ApplicationWindow):
         self.set_show_menubar(False)
         self.set_title(_('Start new Conversation'))
         self.set_default_size(-1, 400)
+        self.ready_to_destroy = False
 
         self.builder = gtkgui_helpers.get_gtk_builder(
             'start_chat_dialog.ui')
@@ -2891,7 +2892,7 @@ class StartChatDialog(Gtk.ApplicationWindow):
         else:
             app.interface.new_chat_from_jid(row.account, row.jid)
 
-        self.destroy()
+        self.ready_to_destroy = True
 
     def _on_search_changed(self, entry):
         search_text = entry.get_text()
diff --git a/gajim/message_window.py b/gajim/message_window.py
index c043a05c0..6a13b57bf 100644
--- a/gajim/message_window.py
+++ b/gajim/message_window.py
@@ -204,6 +204,14 @@ class MessageWindow(object):
         gtkgui_helpers.resize_window(self.window, width, height)
 
     def _on_window_focus(self, widget, event):
+        # on destroy() the window that was last focused gets the focus
+        # again. if destroy() is called from the StartChat Dialog, this
+        # Window is not yet focused, because present() seems to be asynchron
+        # at least on KDE, and takes time.
+        if 'start_chat' in app.interface.instances:
+            if app.interface.instances['start_chat'].ready_to_destroy:
+                app.interface.instances['start_chat'].destroy()
+
         # window received focus, so if we had urgency REMOVE IT
         # NOTE: we do not have to read the message (it maybe in a bg tab)
         # to remove urgency hint so this functions does that