diff --git a/doc/fixes37.0 b/doc/fixes37.0
index ec45cb17b..e2b02d43b 100644
--- a/doc/fixes37.0
+++ b/doc/fixes37.0
@@ -755,6 +755,8 @@ using bhitpos in flooreffects to handle erosion damage broke its original use
 	of tracking wand zaps if a teleportation zap hit an object; subsequent
 	zap traversal was done from object's landing spot rather than from its
 	zap hit spot, resulting in scrambled wand targetting
+restore previous behavior of the 'altmeta' option (only wait for a second
+	character when getting a command keystroke, not other key input)
 
 curses: 'msg_window' option wasn't functional for curses unless the binary
 	also included tty support
diff --git a/src/cmd.c b/src/cmd.c
index 50d6b6c0f..9f58d2969 100644
--- a/src/cmd.c
+++ b/src/cmd.c
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ static const char unavailcmd[] = "Unavailable command '%s'.";
 /* for rejecting #if !SHELL, !SUSPEND */
 static const char cmdnotavail[] = "'%s' command not available.";
 
+/* only needed for #if ALTMETA config but present unconditionally */
+static boolean getting_cmd = FALSE; /* True when parse() gets next command */
+
 static int
 doprev_message(void)
 {
@@ -4475,8 +4478,11 @@ parse(void)
     g.context.move = 1;
     flush_screen(1); /* Flush screen buffer. Put the cursor on the hero. */
 
+    getting_cmd = TRUE; /* affects readchar() behavior if the 'altmeta'
+                         * option is On; reset to False by readchar() */
     if (!g.Cmd.num_pad || (foo = readchar()) == g.Cmd.spkeys[NHKF_COUNT]) {
-        foo = get_count((char *) 0, '\0', LARGEST_INT, &g.command_count, FALSE);
+        foo = get_count((char *) 0, '\0', LARGEST_INT,
+                        &g.command_count, FALSE);
         g.last_command_count = g.command_count;
     }
 
@@ -4621,8 +4627,9 @@ readchar_core(int *x, int *y, int *mod)
 #endif
         sym = '\033';
 #ifdef ALTMETA
-    } else if (sym == '\033' && iflags.altmeta) {
-        /* iflags.altmeta: treat two character ``ESC c'' as single `M-c' */
+    } else if (sym == '\033' && iflags.altmeta && getting_cmd) {
+        /* iflags.altmeta: treat two character ``ESC c'' as single `M-c' but
+           only when we're called by parse() [possibly via get_count()] */
         sym = *readchar_queue ? *readchar_queue++ : pgetchar();
         if (sym == EOF || sym == 0)
             sym = '\033';
@@ -4634,6 +4641,8 @@ readchar_core(int *x, int *y, int *mod)
         readchar_queue = click_to_cmd(*x, *y, *mod);
         sym = *readchar_queue++;
     }
+    getting_cmd = FALSE; /* next readchar() will be for an ordinary char
+                          * unless parse() sets this back to True */
     return (char) sym;
 }